PaulfromYorkshire wrote:Yes thanks for Wren-Lewis article.
I have my own personal diagnosis of the Brexit vote that I was thinking about after the Barnsley Question Time the other day.
For me, it's quite simple. There are huge swathes of the country away from London and some other cosmopolitan hotspots that have never recovered from the 2008 crash. If you live in Barnsley, life now is harder than pre-2008.
This would make you want to look for someone to blame. Largely of course the blame lies with Cameron and Osborne and all those who voted for them. But they were utterly expert in deflecting the blame. Towards "scroungers". Towards immigrants. And yes towards Brussels.
What continues to be missing is completely justified rage against the London establishment . London drove the 2008 crash, yet still prospers. I love the place, but it would be better if we acknowledged that the idea that it underpins the UK economy is massively flakey.
Sad to remember that LABOUR began the attack on 'scroungers' = the punitive and privatised WCA , and so much bloody PFI !
Blair encouraged unlimited immediate and even 'encouraged' immigration, which was a disaster . Worthy studies tell us that it encouraged economic growth without any negative effects ... but they missed out on the wider effects .
This one from Ebbw Vale is a must read, going back much further than 2008 --
https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/ ... -ebbw-vale" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Another from Wm Keegan combines brexit and thatcherisation --
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"Which brings us to the real problem that has engulfed otherwise sensible Remain MPs: most of them have been so pusillanimous in the face of their “left behind” constituents that they have forgotten Edmund Burke’s dictum that their duty is to be representatives, not delegates – to apply their judgment, not act as conduits for prejudices they do not share.
My impression is that the despair, indeed anger, felt by “left behind” Brexit voters is the accumulated result of the Thatcher regime’s neglect of the north and manufacturing, compounded by the impact of globalisation: as analysts are pointing out a lot these days, the losers from globalisation have simply not been compensated from a pot whose proceeds should have been distributed more equitably.""
https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... oters-hope" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Plenty to be going on with !