Britain’s Economic Crisis

I interviewed my economics teacher, Mr Al-Hasso on Britain’s economic crisis. The first question I asked him was, who he thought the main culprit was for Britain’s economic crisis. He reiterated that there was no individual that caused Britain’s economic crisis. He said that the main reason was due to the outcome of the Brexit referendum and that everything started going downhill after this moment. He said that by leaving the EU, the service sector minutely benefits, however ex-agricultural and manufacturing towns will suffer heavily due to the outcome of the referendum. 

The next question I asked was on the topic of Britain getting a good Brexit deal in such a short period of time. He strongly believed that Britain would not get a good Brexit deal as he believed the UK needed the EU more than the EU needed us. He mentioned that it would take at least five years negotiation for a good Brexit deal for both parties; he believed that there would be an interim deal and Theresa May would fail negotiate a last minute deal which would lead to her resigning as PM and a more eurosceptic politician with populist views would become the next number ten, someone like Boris Johnson or Jeremy Corbyn who would focus on their personal ambitions as PM rather than the betterment of the UK’s economy. 

The third question I asked Mr Al-Hasso was if he thought Theresa May’s chequers plan would work given the amount of criticism she has faced from across the board. He said that her chequers plan was never going to work which was reiterated by the EU who said that some of the itinerary  on the chequers plan were untenable. He mentioned that the EU would be incredibly reluctant to avoid a Swiss style deal and would want to show the rest of the countries who may be considering whether to leave the EU to know that this is how they deal with these countries. The four EU freedoms of the EU single market can’t be split and the EU isn’t willing to give the UK any special treatment. 

The penultimate question I asked my economics teacher was his vision of the Irish border problems and have negotiations halted because of this. He said that this is one of the reasons negotiations have halted. Both the UK and the EU have a mutual interest of fixing this problem; so if nothing else gets fixed, the problem at the Irish border probably will get solved. Both parties want to get it fixed as soon as possible, as it does pose all kinds of issues if it’s not sorted. 

The fifth and final question I asked Mr Al-Hasso was what kind of prime minister will be the best for Britain from an economist’s perspective. He believed that a centrist politician who understands the need of the people and the need of the wider economy; essentially having the right balance between both.