‘Should have copied Germany’ Remainer makes staggering Brexit claim despite £500bn triumph

Remain campaigner Dr Mike Galsworthy suggested that the UK “should have copied Germany” and remained in the EU in order to “save ourselves a whole load of fuss, time and money.” This came in response to a report from the Global Britain Commission, which said that boosting UK exports to match those of Germany could create an additional £474bn of export income per year and create 5.2m new jobs. UK exports of goods and services in 2020 were slightly more than half that of Germany, Europe’s largest market.

The report put UK exports at £8,597 per capita compared with £15,645 in Germany.

If the UK boosted its exports per capita to match Germany’s numbers, Britain would see a major boost to its income, the report said.

Sir Roger Marsh, the commissioner of the report, told the Daily Mail that the plan is “a restatement of Britain’s prowess when it comes to being a global trading nation”.

But Dr Mike Galsworthy, founder of Scientists for EU, called it “ironic” that the report’s writers “modelled their vision” on the EU country.

He told Express.co.uk: “These analyses sound like the same fantasy stuff eurosceptic dinosaurs were putting out over half a decade ago.

“In the meantime, Brexit has actually happened in the real world – hitting GDP by a whopping 4 percent, with lorries queuing at Dover, farmers going out of business, and British businesses tangled in red tape.

“And fantasists continue to talk about golden cities just over the next hill.

“Ironically, they also model their vision on Germany – a highly successful global trading nation within the EU.

“Maybe we should have copied Germany, without the Brexit, and saved ourselves a whole load of fuss, time and money.”

However, Tory MP and Brexiteer Peter Bone argued that the UK is currently “succeeding very well” on the Global stage.

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“The fact that we are the fastest growing economy in the G7 tends to indicate that we are succeeding very well at that.

“I think the argument that was made very strongly during Brexit was that the markets in Europe will be a declining market here for us, and it will be the rest of the world where the expansion, and the rest of the world where we sell goods.

“So I think it’s absolutely right that this is the future we’re going to see.

“I’m really pleased for instance that yesterday Jacob Rees-Mogg was made Brexit minister to take advantage of these things and strip away stuff that might be hindering our businesses and strip out regulations that we don’t need, which are only here from the EU days.

“I’m really upbeat and very positive about it.

“I think it’s exactly what we said before Brexit would happen and it is happening and I think its fantastic.”

According to the report, the additional exports would cause UK workers to expect a theoretical salary jump of £2,190, the report said, increasing from £31,285 to £33,475.

The report noted that every £1m of exports would create 11.6 new jobs.

On this basis, 5.2m new jobs would be created as a result of the £474bn export income.