WHAT DOES THE UK HAVE TO TRADE WITH?

I have argued for some time that we are not in the position that Brexiteers think we are with regard to manufacturing.  My own 50 year experience of many different industries, both here and across Europe is that we are essentially hopeless at manufacturing.  Now Anthony Hilton has written an article (HERE) that gets right to the heart of the problem.

Trade deals across the world are almost always about goods and not services and so the performance of our manufacturers is of crucial importance.  Mr Hilton asks what we have to sell and comes up with some worrying figures.  McKinsey produced a report some years ago and classified businesses into five categories based on their international competitiveness and ability to export.

The article claims 64% of businesses, far from being able to take advantage of trade deals are vulnerable to cheaper products from abroad.  Even if the other 36% were able to double their exports it would not be enough to close the trade gap. He also considers our poor productivity, lower educational attainment and creaking infrastructure as well as those parts of the economy that are vulnerable to a cut in immigration, including hospitality and tourism, health and higher education.

The things we are good at like financial services will be damaged by excluding ourselves from the single market. 

Prospering like never before.