Remainers have been quick to blame Brexit for the cost of living crisis crippling the UK and soaring inflation rates.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starker branded Britain “the sick man of Europe” in March, as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt unveiled the Government’s latest Budget.
But with Germany on the verge or a recession, France in flames over anti-Macron riots, and the Netherlands seeing its government collapse last week, Brexiteers have hailed the UK’s performance outside the bloc.
Staunch Brexiteer Richard Tice wrote on Twitter: “REMOANERS WRONG AGAIN:
“UK is struggling but nothing to do with Brexit: major EU nations worse as Germany & Eurozone in recession, France in flames & Dutch govt collapses over immigration chaos.
“UK has out performed Germany economic growth since 2016…”
In May, Britain gave anti-Brexit campaigners a slap in the face when the IMF said London would be performing better than Berlin this quarter.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that “we’re likely to see the UK performing better than Germany, for example”.
Data released by the Federal Statistical Office shows Germany’s gross domestic product, or GDP, declined by 0.3 per cent in the period from January to March. This follows a drop of 0.5 per cent in Europe’s biggest economy during the last quarter of 2022.
Two consecutive quarters of contraction is a common definition of recession, though economists on the euro area business cycle dating committee use a broader set of data, including employment figures. Germany is one of the 20 countries that use the euro currency.
Employment in the country rose in the first quarter and inflation has eased, but higher interest rates will keep weighing on spending and investment, said Franziska Palmas, senior Europe economist for Capital Economics.
The figures are a blow to the German government, which in April boldly doubled its growth forecast for this year after a feared winter energy crunch failed to materialise. It said the economy would grow by 0.4 per cent — up from a 0.2 per cent expansion predicted in late January — a forecast that may now need to be revised downward.
As a whole, the eurozone economy scraped out meager growth of 0.1 per cent in the first quarter, according to initial estimates, with inflation eroding people’s willingness to spend as their pay fails to keep pace.
As this was not enough to worry people on the continent, French people have been protesting against Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms and rioting over police brutality in the country.
In the Netherlands, Mark Rutte’s government collapsed this month prompting the outgoing Prime Minister to retire from politics altogether.
