Thursday, February 01, 2018

More on Brexit

Simon Wren-Lewis writes against Brexit again, following the leak of government forecasts which all predict a negative effect on the economy.  But this aspect, regarding the effect on immigration and services in the NHS, is something I hadn't heard of before:
There is even a large fantasy element when it comes to immigration. Yes, there are a few Leavers who would pay a large amount to avoid hearing a foreign language spoken in their town, but they do not represent most Leave voters. Instead there is the belief, carefully cultivated by the Conservative party, that immigration has reduced real wages and our access to public services. Large numbers voted Leave because they thought less EU immigrants would mitigate the NHS crisis. Now those EU immigrants who also happened to be doctors or nurses are leaving, and the NHS cannot fill vacancies. And, of course, those lower growth numbers mean less money to spend on the NHS: the Brexit dividend is negative.

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