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Brexit Benefits – Gully Foyle

This list of 50 tangible Brexit benefits has been compiled by “Gully Foyle” of Twitter and all credit and copyright belongs to him.

They are reproduced here so they can be disseminated more easily by a wider audience.

“Fully evidenced and demonstrably true. Some may not like that they exist – but that doesn’t change the fact that they do”

1. As one of the larger economies of the EU, the UK was a net contributor to the EU budget – which means that it paid in more each year than it received in return. The UK was responsible for 12.5% of the annual core budget of the EU, which in 2024 was €189 Billion – which would in turn have resulted in a gross contribution from the UK of around €24 Billion, were it still to be a member. This would have meant a likely net contribution of around €14-16 Billion in 2024 – money that can now be spent in the UK instead. Link: EU Annual Budget 2024 – https://consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/eu-annual-budget/2024-budget/
2. As an EU member state within the Customs Union, 75% of all customs revenue (it was 80% at the time the UK voted to leave) goes into the budget of the EU. Now outside of the EU, the UK HMRC receives 100% of that revenue, to spend on public services – currently estimated at around £2-3 Billion extra a year. Link: EU “Own Resources” Explanation – https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/eu-budget/long-term-eu-budget/2021-2027/revenue/own-resources/customs-duties_en Link: HMRC Customs Duties Data – https://statista.com/statistics/284363/customs-duty-united-kingdom-hmrc-tax-receipts/
   

   
3. In January 2021, the EU introduced a new source of funds, in the form of an annual fee to be paid by member states. This fee was to be paid at a rate of €0.80, for every kilogram of plastic packaging produced by the member state but not recycled. In 2021, the UK is estimated to have produced 2.5 million tonnes of plastic packaging, with 1.4 million tonnes believed to have not been recycled. This would have resulted in the UK having to pay an additional €1.12 Billion into the EU coffers in 2021. Link: EU “Own Resources” Explainer – https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/eu-budget/long-term-eu-budget/2021-2027/revenue/own-resources/plastics-own-resource_en Link: EU “Financing the Budget” Explainer – https://consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/financing-the-eu-budget/ Link: UK Statistics on Waste – https://gov.uk/government/sta
4. EU member states have been unable to trade in Swiss equities since 2019, due to a ban having been put in place. Outside of the EU, the UK was able to return this trading, which is worth about £1.6bn a day, and so about £8m a day to HMRC. That’s just over £2bn a year in additional tax revenue, to spend on public services. Link: Reuters News Story – https://reuters.com/world/uk/switzerland-lifts-ban-london-will-resume-trading-swiss-stocks-2021-02-03/
   

   
5. The UK previously had access to around 43 active trade deals as part of its EU membership – a membership that, as one of the largest net contributors, it paid Billions of taxpayer money each year for the privilege. The UK has replicated all but 3 of these (Bosnia, Montenegro, Algeria), but no longer has the annual membership fee to pay in order to do so – and can enter into negotiations bilaterally to improve on them should it wish to do so. Link: WTO Database, active trade deals – https://rtais.wto.org/UI/PublicMaintainRTAHome.aspx Link: Govt Website, active trade deals – https://gov.uk/government/col
6. Since leaving the EU, the UK has been able to improve on the deals rolled over with Japan, Singapore and Ukraine – and is in the process of improving the deals with Mexico, Switzerland, Israel, Turkey and South Korea. As well as striking completely new deals with Australia and New Zealand, the UK is also close to completion on FTA negotiations with India and the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—all not possible within the EU. Link: Commons Research Briefing – https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9314/ Link: Gully Blog, Japan FTA Improvements – https://brexitworks.com/world-trade/uk-japan-cepa Link: Gully Blog, Singapore FTA Improvements – https://brexitworks.com/world-trade/si
7. By leaving the EU, the UK has been able to start the process of realignment with those markets in the world that are projecting the highest growth over the coming decades (the “Indo-Pacific Tilt”), as opposed to being tied to a bloc projected by its own economists no less to see declining relevance and stagnation. The UKs accession to the 11-nation Comprehensive and Progressive agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade bloc was signed in Summer 2023, with ratification underway and on track for the deal being in place by October 2024. Link: UK Govt Announcement, CPTPP Signing – https://gov.uk/government/news/uk-signs-treaty-to-join-vast-indo-pacific-trade-group-as-new-data-shows-major-economic-benefits Link: Govt Response to Integrated Review, Mar 2024 –https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5804/cmselect/cmfaff/630/report.html Link: NATO Regional Perspectives Report, 2022 – https://act.nato.int/wp-content/upl
8. In the year to March 2022, the Department for International Trade (now renamed the Department for Business and Trade or DBT) resolved 192 trade barriers in 79 countries. Just 45 of these alone were estimated to be worth around £5 billion to businesses across the UK over a five-year period. That’s an additional £1bn per year of extra revenue for UK businesses, just from these 45 trade barrier removals, thanks to leaving the EU. That would be around 0.03% of GDP in 2022. Link: Written Question and Answer to DBT – https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questi
9. As of summer 2023, the UK’s departure from the EU had allowed the UK to remove tariffs completely on 47% of all product lines entering the UK, making products cheaper for UK consumers and businesses. In the EU, the level is 27% – so that’s nearly twice as many product lines that are cheaper for UK importers, and so ultimately UK consumers. Link: Hansard, May 2023 – https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2023-05-18/debates/42FBD937-18B4-466D-9B34-5672DA3B0473/FoodPrices?highlight=47#contribution-A4B92488-396B-47BF-B570-4C391F1CC3B5
10. As recently covered in an article in Reuters, those at the lower end of salaried workers in the UK have seen improvements in both salaries and working conditions due to leaving the EU, and the resultant tightening of available resources with the removal of Freedom of Movement (FoM). Quote: “a gradual improvement in employment terms since the global pandemic and Brexit forced companies to work harder to find staff” Link: Reuters Article (without paywall) – https://archive.ph/2023.10.02-072606/https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/flexible-hours-sick-pay-meals-british-workers-get-better-deal-2023-10-02/ Link: Telegraph Article – https://telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/
11. As a direct consequence of leaving the EU, the UK has been able to reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers with its global trading partners, meaning it now has in total less barriers to trade than it did as an EU member state. In recognition of this fact, the UK jumped up to 4th place globally in the 2021 Trade Barriers Index, for how comparatively free of barriers its trade is. Link: Trade Barriers Index 2021 – https://atr-tbi19.s3.amazonaws.com/TBI_FullReport
12. In the Financial Year ending March 2023, in the Latin-American (LATAM) region alone, the UK was able to remove 34 non-tariff trade barriers to UK exporters – with 24 of these to have a combined forecast worth of £1.3 Billion to the UK economy. The removal of these barriers would not have been possible from within the EU and its Customs Union. Link: Govt press statement – https://gov.uk/government/news/trade-minister-in-peru-and-colombia-to-boost-trade-with-latin-america
    

13. The Shark Fins Act, which looks to end the import and export of shark fins, received Royal Assent in June 2023 and so is now UK law. This move to protect sharks from this ghastly trade, through reinforcing poorly conceived attempts previously made by the EU, was and is only possible due to Brexit. Link: Shark Trust Press Release – https://sharktrust.org/news/uk-tightens-law-on-shark-fin-trade
    Link: Shark Fins Act 2023 – https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3207
    
14. Part of the King’s Speech in September 2023, and having received Royal Assent in May 2024, the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Act will make illegal the transportation of live animals coming from or transiting the UK, purely for the purposes of slaughter. The ending of this practice has major support with voters, and has seen multiple petitions over decades asking for change. This change was not possible within the EU. Link: BBC Fact Check –https://bbc.co.uk/news/50587148 Link: France24 News Article – https://france24.com/en/live-news/20240514-uk-law-to-ban-live-animal-exports-clears-parliament Link: CIWF Press Release –https://ciwf.org.uk/news/2024/05/a-huge-win-historic-moment-marked-for-uk-farmed-animals-after-50-year-campaign-to-ban-live-exports
    Link: Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill –https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3533
    
15. The ending of Freedom of Movement for EU citizens within the UK, allowed for equal application of UK entry rights for both EU and Non-EU citizens, including the default refusal of entry where someone has been in prison for a year or more. The implementation of this equal treatment resulted in over 12,000 EU citizens being refused entry to the UK in 2023 – who would’ve otherwise been likely granted entry under EU Freedom of Movement. Link: Guardian Article – https://theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/25/fivefold-rise-number-eu-citizens-refused-entry-uk-since-brexit Link: UK Govt, Benefits of Brexit –https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/620a791d8fa8f54915f4369e/benefits-of-brexit.pdf Link: Ardens Solicitors, Explainer – https://ardenslaw.com/brexit-thousands-of-eu-citizens-with-a-criminal-record-could-be-prohibited-from-entering-the-uk/
    
16. During the Covid pandemic, the EU27 took the collective step to allow the EU to take on its own debt, and allowed borrowing of €750bn to be made, in order to grant member states loans to cover the cost of fighting the pandemic. This debt is effectively given with the member states as guarantors, and the net contributors having to cover any funds not paid in time by the net recipients. The UK would have effectively been on the hook for 12% of this debt, as its share of the EU budget, around €90bn. Link: Economist Article –https://economist.com/europe/2020/05/30/the-eus-recovery-fund-is-a-benefit-of-brexit Link: Funcas Explainer – https://funcas.es/articulos/the-eu-recovery-plan-funding-arrangements-and-their-impacts/
    
17. In April of 2023 the UK government put into place its new Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS), which has been designed to provide aid through encouraging trade with 65 developing nations across the globe—and going further than EU GSP and GSP+. This change would simply not be possible from within the EU Customs Union, as EU member states cannot have their own tariff rates. Link: Govt Explainer, DCTS – https://gov.uk/government/collections/trading-with-developing-nations Link: UKTPO Explainer, DCTS – https://blogs.sussex.ac.uk/uktpo/publications/the-new-and-improved-uks-developing-countries-trading-scheme/
    
18. In October 2021, the UK removed the ability for many EU/EEA/EFTA ID cards to be used at the border to gain entry to the UK – and in doing so massively reduced the chances of fraudulent documentation being used to get into the country. In 2020, nearly half of all fraudulent ID intercepted at the UK border was imitating ID cards from EU member states. This increase in border security against the entry of unknown persons, would simply not have been possible without leaving the EU. Link: Govt Press Release –https://gov.uk/government/news/insecure-id-cards-phased-out-as-travel-document-to-strengthen-uk-borders Link: Data on Border Force Fake IDs – https://migrationwatchuk.org/briefing-paper
19. With the rollout of legal recognition of fully digitised shipping documentation, UK importers are saving upwards of thousands of pounds a week in shipping costs and making the entire process quicker and easier to complete. Companies like CueTheBBQ, who import upto a dozen shipping containers of wood and charcoal from South Africa each week, are saving upto $200 per container. Link: Electronic Trade Documents Act – https://openaccessgovernment.org/uk-economy-electronic-trade-documents-act/164108/ Link: Times Article – https://thetimes.co.uk/article/fuel-for-wood-burners-benefits-from-bonfire-of-red-tape-g6rj6k7gd
    
20. In 2019, as a member of the EU, the UK wasn’t even in the top 10 OECD countries on their Services Trade Restrictiveness Index. In 2022, as a direct consequence of liberalizations made having left the EU, the UK ranked 2nd only to Japan. The liberalizations made which allowed for this significant change in ranking, were only possible due to leaving the EU. The Services trade represents over 70% of the UK economy, which made the UK an outlier within the EU – whose trade policy focuses primarily on Goods. Link: OECD Services Trade Restrictiveness Index – https://issuu.com/oecd.publishing/docs/stri_policy_trends_up_to_2023_final
    
21. Since leaving the EU, the UK has improved its score on the Global Soft Power Index compiled by Brand Finance (the world’s leading independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy) and consolidated its position at the top of the leaderboard, second only to the US. The UK has also now risen to an all-time high of 4th place in the rankings for ‘Reputation’. Link: Brand Finance Soft Power Index – https://brandirectory.com/softpower/
    

    
22. The UK has rolled out an Advance Valuation Ruling Service (AVRS), giving importers legal certainty that their chosen customs valuation method are correct, and “reducing their administrative burden”. This would not be possible inside the EU Customs Union. Link: Govt Explainer, AVRS – https://gov.uk/government/new
23. In March of 2022, the then Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that VAT would be reduced to zero on green energy purchases such as solar panels and heat pumps. Women’s sanitary products also had VAT removed from them, in January 2021. A member state could not independently implement such VAT policies from within the EU. Would not have been possible due to EU rules on VAT and taxation. Link: Streets Accountants, Tampon Tax Explainer – https://streetsweb.co.uk/about/news/2024/jan/11/vat-on-period-products-scrapped/ Link: FullFact, Green VAT Removal – https://fullfact.org/economy/solar-installations-vat-eu/ Link: Independent Article, Green VAT Removal – https://independent.co.uk/climate-change
24. Leaving the EU has allowed the UK to develop fully digitised international trade solutions with like-minded partners in the CPTPP such as Singapore, culminating in a world first accomplishment of a fully digital end to end goods shipment in September 2023. These changes will make trading cheaper, easier and more secure for UK businesses. Link: UK Trade Dept Press Release – https://x.com/biztradegovuk/status/1706264792925675640?s=20 Link: Straits Times Article – https://straitstimes.com/world/europe/world-s-first-fully-digitalised-goods-shipment-sent-from-uk-to-singapore-as-they-boost-trade-cyber-security
    
25. Leaving the EU Single Market and Customs Union, allowed for the UK to implement and roll out freeports across the country – not just in name only as they had been before – providing various tax and customs reliefs, simplified import and export procedures, enhanced trade promotion, and additional support for innovation. Increasing the attractiveness to both domestic and international businesses. Again not possible from within the EU. Link: FullFact on Freeports in the UK and EU – https://fullfact.org/europe/free-ports/ Link: Govt explainer on Freeports – https://great.gov.uk/international/content/investment/how-we-can-help/freeports-in-the-uk/
26. Companies like Mazda are now shipping directly to the UK instead of to a central hub in Belgium to be reshipped later from there – and in the process, providing more jobs to UK citizens, reduced lead times, more choice, higher reliability and better service to their customers. “The new shipping route streamlines UK deliveries and removes the risk of delays caused by Europe to UK transit issues” (read: delays caused by French workers strikes). Win-win-win. Link: Fleet News Article – https://fleetnews.co.uk/news/manufactu
27. As recently covered by The Spectator, a partnership on cancer treatment R&D between the UK Government and BioNTech is only possible due to the post-Brexit regulatory environment that we have been able to foster and develop. Which could be of benefit not just to the UK, but to all of humanity. Link: Spectator Article –https://spectator.co.uk/article/the-uk-has-finally-chalked-up-a-brexit-win/
    

    
28. With the return of sovereignty to the UK for multiple areas of government policy and UK Law, the ability to petition your representative – and to remove them when they are ineffective in areas you care about – has not been as possible as it is now since the 1970s. A good example of this is the multiple petitions regarding the treatment of whales and sharks by Faroe Islands, and the wish to suspend the UK FTA with them as a lever to force change. The very act of petitioning the UK to take such action, is a request for the UK to use powers that it only has because it has left the EU.
    
29. A ruling in 2022 by the EU Courts (The CJEU) resulted in member states having to shut down open registers of corporate ownership – registers that had been put in place specifically to reduce corruption and increase transparency. As the UK is now outside of the jurisdiction of the CJEU, the more transparent approach continues to be in place, helping to prevent corruption. Link: Transparency Org Article – https://transparency.org/en/blog/cjeu-ruling-eu-public-beneficial-ownership-registers-what-next-for-corporate-transparency Link: FT Article – https://ft.com/content/e4b31a4e-a79d-40f7-8a19-c1e451a95c4b
    
30. Changes brought into effect immediately after formally exiting the EU transition period, allow for public services procurement to be reserved below a given threshold, so that only local businesses and suppliers are able to tender for the contract – ensuring that smaller tenders for local improvements are provided by local businesses where possible, keeping investment in the local area. Goods and services contracts below £138,760 (central government), £213,477 (sub-central authorities) and £5.3 million (construction throughout the public sector) are now reserved for UK suppliers. Link: Mayer Brown, Post-Brexit Procurement – https://mayerbrown.com/-/media/files/perspectives-events/publications/2021/01/uk-public-procurement-postbrexit.pdf
    
31. The UK has been trialing the use of Long Semi-Trailer (LST) trucks since 2011, finding that they not only make more sense for most hauliers (with limits on physical space being reached long before weight limits), but also reduce both costs and carbon emissions. Despite the trialling of LSTs being legal within the EU, the actual rollout was not – as is confirmed by the impact assessment linked to below. So post-Brexit when the results of the trial were implemented permanently, the UK would not have been able to make these changes in regulations, without having left the EU. Link: Govt impact assessment, LSTs –https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/631afa5e8fa8f502069e7728/ending-the-longer-semi-trailer-trial-impact-assessment-2022.pdf Link: Fleet News Article, LST rollout –https://fleetnews.co.uk/news/truck-news/2023/05/09/new-laws-introduced-to-permit-longer-lorries-on-british-roads
    

    

    9:56 PM · May 21, 2024

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33. As found by the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO) “Brexit Balance Sheet” report in September 2021, the UK fishing industry as a whole is now better off by over £50 million a year (£250 million by 2026), than it was when inside the EU. With this figure increasing with each year that passes, as more quotas are returned to the UK fishing fleet, and negotiations on annual quotas are held with the UK personally instead of at the EU level. Link: NFFO “Brexit Balance Sheet” Report – https://ukfisheries.net/uploads/documents/BREXIT%20BALANCE%20SHEET%20Report%20for%20NFFO%20by%20Gary%20Taylor.pdf Link: Gully Explainer on NFFO Report – https://x.com/TerraOrBust/status/1479950823929131010?t=diTBYQmg3ef78qPnL_OMw&s=19
    

    
34. By leaving the EU, the UK is able to remove excessive regulation affecting consumer goods pricing, that in some cases even the EU themselves admit are just pointless bureaucratic nonsense. The removal of these regulations on the bottling of sparkling wines for example, will save consumers upwards of 5-10% off the average price of a bottle, with manufacturers saving upwards of 50p in production costs on every single bottle made. Link: The Sun Article – https://thesun.co.uk/money/21090555/booze-prices-slashed-brexit-eu-rules/ Link: Drinks Business Trade Article – https://thedrinksbusiness.com/2023/01/foil-t
35. Outside of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which mainly benefitted very large landowners with subsidies, the UK system is being changed to encourage better stewardship of farmland as animal habitats – and will spread the subsidies better amongst smaller farms. Recent months have seen tens of thousands of farmers, across the whole of the EU, protesting at EU agricultural policies. Policies that the UK is no longer bound to implement, and so not a threat to UK farmers and their livelihoods. Link: Govt explainer, funding for farmers – https://gov.uk/guidance/funding-for-farmers Link: BBC Article, farming subsidies – https://bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64169485 Link: Al Jazeera Article, EU farming protests – https://aljazeera.com/gallery/2024/3
36. In 2019, the European Union agreed to not cut tariffs imposed on large producers of Bananas, in order to shield the smaller producers in sub-Saharan Africa. Being an EU agreement, the UK is no longer bound by this – and as part of its FTA review with Andean nations is looking again at the banana tariffs put in place by the EU that the UK rolled over. Accession to the CPTPP also gave tariff concessions on bananas to both Mexico and Peru. The banana is by far and away the most consumed fruit in the UK – and leaving the EU is making the humble banana cheaper for all of us. Link: The Week Article, UKs Love Affair with Bananas – https://theweek.com/business/retail/the-uks-love-affair-with-the-banana Link: Guardian Article, UK cutting cost of Bananas – https://theguardian.com/politics/2023/oct/27/uk-accused-of-plan-to-further-cut-cost-of-bananas-at-expense-of-poorest-african-producers
    
37. Our independence from the EU has allowed the UK to take a leading independent role in supporting Ukraine through its conflict with Russia. Though EU member states have followed suit, they did so weeks later after numerous discussions to get consensus opinion on how to proceed, which could well have been the difference between victory and defeat. “Britain is now again in its historic role protecting Europe from conquest, freed from having to get along within the EU” “Historically, the Duke of Marlborough, the Duke of Wellington and Winston Churchill saved Europe from itself, and the UK has this role again” Even the Polish Foreign Minister agrees, that this was a benefit of leaving the EU. Link: Politico Article, UK Helps Ukraine – https://politico.eu/article/brexit-britain-help-ukraine/ Link: Telegraph Article – https://telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/05/18/brexit-has-let-uk-respond-quickly-on-russia-and-ukraine/
    

    
38. The burgeoning “novel foods” or cultivated meats industry is set to grow massively in the coming years, to meet with the increased collision between consumer tastes and consumer concerns over eating animals and climate change. The UK is at the forefront of this industry from a scientific research perspective, and that is only possible due to being outside of the EU. “Leaving the EU means we now have the capability to take something to market in the UK without having to have the signoff from every European nation” Link: Cambridge Independent Article – https://cambridgeindependent.co.uk/business/brexi
39. In 2023 the UK government published the results of an independent consultation on how to improve and streamline the speed at which new medical treatments can be tested and approved for use within the UK. The outcomes of that consultation were published and a number of changes made, to vastly improve the speed at which new treatments can be accepted, without increasing the risk to patient care. The oversight of these areas, when an EU member, is within the purview and responsibility of the European Medicines Authority (EMA). It is *only* through leaving the EU, that the UK has been able to make these improvements. Link: Telegraph Article – https://telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/12/drug-trial-changes-brexit-red-tape-steve-barclay/ Link: FT Article – https://ft.com/content/424ad1e2-9984-4e10-9ffa-0ed08f4e598b Link: EU EMA Clinical Trials Regulations – https://ema.europa.eu/en/human-regulatory-overview/research-development/clinical-trials-human-medicines/clinical-trials-regulation
    
40. Leaving the EU allowed for a core desire of the British electorate to be realised – that laws governing the UK would be decided upon and enacted by those elected to do so within the UK political structure. This includes 152 areas of policy where previously the EU had regulatory competence, where it now sits with the devolved administrations. This has a very clear tangible benefit – that the UK voter is now more empowered to enact change through their vote, making their vote more valuable and more effective. Link: Govt Common Frameworks Analysis – https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/61890ff4e90e07197a68c4ae/UK_Common_Frameworks_Analysis_2021.pdf
    
41. As EU members, EU citizens in the UK had a more preferential access to the UK welfare system than those from non-EU countries. Having left the EU, the access to the UK welfare system has now been equalised for all non-UK citizens present in the UK, irrespective of whether they happen to be from the EU or not. This equal treatment of visitors to the UK was not possible as an EU member, as EU membership required preferential treatment of EU citizens, over and above that provided to those from other countries. Link: Govt Explainer, EU Citizens Accessing Benefits –https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/how-can-eu-nationals-access-uk-benefits/
    
42. The departure from the EU has allowed the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate and pursue all mergers that it has an interest in, and where it is in the UK interest to do so. As a member of the EU, the CMA was unable to involve itself in any mergers where the EU body was already investigating. This means that the CMA will now be able to make decisions in the best interests of the UK, instead of before where decisions were based on the “greater good” of the EU, even if to the detriment of the UK. Link: Govt Explainer, CMA Role Post-Brexit – https://gov.uk/government/news/the-uk-s-withdrawal-from-the-eu-the-cma-s-role-post-brexit Link: Skadden Explainer – https://skadden.com/insights/publications/2021/01/2021-insights/regulatory/post-brexit-a-more-demanding-uk-merger
    
43. Even before the UK Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS) was announced, the UK Global Tariff (UKGT) had already made improvements. The UKGT refined and simplified the UKs applied tariff regime at the WTO, removing a whole host of so-called “nuisance tariffs” lower than 2.5%, where the hassle of collecting the tariff is more effort than it is worth. The UKGT also introduced tariff bandings, in a further simplification, and removed tariffs on products that the UK does not produce but the EU does. These changes are not only good for the UK, but also for trade with the wider Commonwealth – as explained by Nigerian President Buhari: “Already [the UKGT] has reduced, removed or simplified tax on thousands of imported goods, an important step in reconfiguring Commonwealth trade” Link: Trade Talks Podcast, Ep 130 – https://tradetalkspodcast.com/podcast/130-so-you-want-to-design-a-tariff-schedule/ Link: Telegraph Article – https://telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/04/2
44. Leaving the EU has allowed the UK to offer a truly fair points-based migration policy, that does not unduly favour predominantly white Europeans to those from other parts of the world. Outside of the former British Empire and now Commonwealth nations, UK policy now treats everyone the same – irrespective of their country of birth. Important to note that this point is not related to illegal immigration, which neither caused by Brexit nor particularly helped by Brexit currently. Link: Govt Explainer, Points-Based Immigration – https://gov.uk/government/publications/uk-points-based-immigration-system-employer-information/the-uks-points-based-immigration-system-an-introduction-for-employers
    
45. The new points-based meritocratic system of migration approval, as implemented, has resulted in the UK having a significantly higher ranking from the OECD as regards attractiveness for highly skilled workers. The OECD say that this significantly higher ranking is “owing to changes to the migration regime introduced after Brexit” – that the UK was only able to do, because it left the EU. Link: OECD Explainer – https://web-archive.oecd.org/2023-03-09/652850-What-is-the-best-country-for-global-talents-in-the-OECD-Migration-Policy-Debates-March-2023.pdf
    
46. Leaving the EU has made the UK a more important strategic ally to the US and others in terms of geopolitics, not less. Not my words, those of the celebrated economist and former Special Advisor to the US President, Pippa Malmgren: “…Brexit probably makes Britain a more important country with a greater voice on strategic security matters, because it’s not about the fact that the EU is larger, it’s about the fact that the EU is way behind” Recent events in the Red Sea and in Ukraine, as well as concerns in the Indo-Pacific, only go to reinforce this point. As does the existence of the AUKUS agreement and the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) with Japan and Italy. Link: These Times Podcast, “the Race for the Arctic” – https://open.spotify.com/episode/0BParnQTGOheaXhLGBgf6D Link: Politico Article, How Brexit Brought UK and Japan Together – https://politico.eu/article/how-brexit-and-donald-trump-brought-britain-and-japan-together/
    

    

    
47. Post-Brexit changes to UK defence procurement rules, have allowed the Royal Navy to accelerate the development and deployment of the new DragonFire laser weaponry. The latest estimates have the weaponry being deployed and in use by 2027, a full FIVE YEARS earlier than had been expected to be possible prior to the changes to procurement rules. The full package of procurement changes, were not possible from inside the EU. Link: Govt Press Release, DragonFire – https://gov.uk/government/news/new-procurement-rules-help-rapid-fitting-of-military-laser-to-royal-navy-ships
48. In March 2024, the ABTA Director of Legal Affairs, Simon Bunce, outlined that the UK package holiday industry was “very fortunate” to be outside of the EU. New regulations on customer payment periods, and on liability for missed holidays, would place liability for the cost of missed holidays onto the tour operator for circumstances that, as Bunce stated, “have nothing to do with the tour operator”. Link: Travel Weekly Article – https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/air/uk-trade-fortunate-to-be-outside-eu-package-travel-reform
    
49. From outside of the EU, the UK has been able to offer UK businesses the opportunity to petition the government to remove tariffs on a given type of product for a period of time, which the government then reviews and if approved looks to implement – as it did in April 2024 with over 120 tariff lines. This would simply not be possible from within the EU, as tariff lines within the EU Customs Union must be the same for all member states. Link: Govt Explainer, Duty Suspensions – https://gov.uk/guidance/duty-suspensions-and-tariff-quotas Link: Independent Article – https://independent.co.uk/news/uk/warwic
50. From March 31st 2024, due to the terms of the UK-Australia FTA, all artwork re-sold in Australia made by British artists will see 5% of the resale price paid to the artist (where the resale value is over AUS$1,000). Every single time it is re-sold in Australia. This would not be possible without the UK-Australia FTA – which in turn would not be possible without having left the EU. Link: Govt Press Release – https://gov.uk/government/news/uk-artists-on-course-for-royalty-windfall-down-under Link: London Weekly Article – http://thelondonweekly.net/culture/7209-uk-australia-free-trade-agreement-unlocks-royalty-windfall-for-british-artists