City firms revealed in the final months of 2020 that they planned to shift nearly £100bn in assets to the EU, taking the total value of assets lost to the bloc since the Brexit vote to £1.3 trillion, according to a new survey.

The data from consulting group EY pointed to a last-minute push by firms before 31 December, after the UK-EU trade deal did not offer concessions for the UK’s dominant financial services sector. It forced companies to move staff and assets to the continent in order to continue serving EU customers.

According to EY’s latest Brexit tracker, which covered the period from October 2020 to February, firms have shifted or declared plans to move approximately £500bn worth of those assets in the last two years alone.  (Kalyeena Makortoff, EY, March 1, 2031)

My comment: My oldest son works for a big international bank.  He tells me that large numbers of City workers are moving to Frankfurt or Paris and that the loss of financial services is going to be catastrophic for the UK.  One of the side effects is that the expensive and fancy office accommodation in the City is emptying, leaving a huge hole in the viability of corporations who own the tower blocks. Then there is the effect on the value of residential property in London, as bankers move to the Continent.  And these example of the effects of Brexit are only a start.

Do Brexiteers  care?  Well, many are elderly, living in in the boondocks or countrified spots, (but also in the past!)  When they find their pensions are dodgy because of the effects of Brexit on the economy, just listen to the uproar!

P.S: To those for whom this issue concerns a far- away country of which they know little – I will not go on about this issue.  Nonetheless, the UK is arguably America’s most supportive and active ally.  It does have (as yet unclear) effects on the United States.