Dr. Ian Cooper:

On the question of whether or not you can ascertain that Brexit is the cause of the economic woes of the UK, there is an answer to that question from a social science point of view. Various economists have made comparisons between the UK's performance post-2016 to a basket of similarly situated countries.

It is difficult because of Covid and all these things. The further you get from 2016, the more uncertainty there is. There is definitely a hit in terms of economic growth. However, trade and investment, in particular, have been hit hard by Brexit. I do not just think this. I think you can say that as a matter of fact.

I want to briefly respond to the question from Deputy Howlin about whether the new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, is likely to change the tone of the proverbial mood music. To give Liz Truss her due, the mood music changed when she became Prime Minister, even though the mood music was terrible when she was foreign minister. Rishi Sunak has kept the same team of James Cleverly, Chris Heaton-Harris and Steve Baker in these Brexit relevant posts. She is going to be a footnote in history, but to give Liz Truss her due, the change did come under her premiership.