PM David Cameron and other prominent politicians campaign for a Remain vote. Stefan Rousseau/PA images. All rights reserved.As confirmed a Remainer I watched with some dismay Chancellor George Osborne’s high-profile defence of British membership in the European Union. The alleged crushing monetary cost of Brexit constituted the central message delivered in his performance in Bristol at the National Composite Centre (who thinks up these names?).
For progressives – and any open-minded voter -- the problems with Mr Osborne’s championing of the EU cause were 1) the Treasury cost estimates are dubious to the point of absurd, 2) the Osborne argument seeks to inspire fear by appealing to narrow self-interest, and 3) for reactionary political reasons the central benefits of the EU were ignored.
Treasury’s futurology
Several times during his speech, and in the party-line presentations by Elizabeth Truss (not to be confused with “Trust”) and Stephen Crabb, we heard that after Brexit “in the long run GDP would be over 6% smaller and Britain would be worse off by £4,300 per household”.
