A former chief economist at Goldman Sachs as eviscerated Brexit and the ‘colossal economic shock’ it has had on the UK.
During an appearance on LBC, Jim O’Neill was asked about what he thought the impact of Donald Trump’s war in Iran would be on the UK economy.
Almost immediately, O’Neill highlighted that economic issues facing the UK cannot be spoken about without also looking at the wider context of Brexit.
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The former Tory minister went as far to say that Brexit was causing “more permanent damage” than any future energy price shock is likely to cause.
He said: “One of the reasons why we’re having so many problems over the past decade is because we’re still living from the colossal economic shock of Brexit, which is causing more permanent damage than this energy price shock is likely to do.”
O’Neill also spoke of the importance of an increase in productivity for the British economy, but once again had to point out that productivity issues had only been “exaggerated by our rather odd decision to leave the EU.”
He went on to say that he believes the Labour leadership wish the UK was still in the single market “but they can’t say that because of the politics of immigration.”
O’Neill predicted that Labour would put a pledge to rejoin the single market on their manifesto at the next general election, in order to woo young voters who can’t understand why we left the EU.
You can watch the exchange below.