Question and Answers – Jobs

Would UK jobs be lost and wages reduced if we stayed in the EU?

Yes!  Most EU workers are paid less than UK workers even if they have a job in their own country.
Some EU workers are paid 1/5 of UK workers.
30 million EU workers are unemployed with less generous benefits than UK unemployed workers.
Why would most EU workers and unemployed EU workers not want to come to the UK if they had the opportunity.

Would UK jobs be lost if the UK left the EU?

No!  EU countries cannot afford to stop trading with the UK.

Many, if not most, EU countries could not afford to lose the profit it makes by made by trading with the UK.

How long would Portugal and Spain survive if they stopped trade and tourism with the UK?

Do 3 million UK jobs depend on trade with the EU?

This number discredited long ago. It arose from a study by the National Institute of Economic & Social Affairs (NIESR) in 1999. The report calculated that ‘three million jobs’ are associated with trade with the EU.  The NIESR only ever talks about very narrow economics.  The NIESR is not referring to UK jobs – NOT UK citizens.

The NIESR report has been repeatedly misrepresented by various people.  Nick Clegg MP  said that three million jobs are “at risk” if we left the EU. The Institute’s Director, Martin Weale, has rubbished the claim describing the misuse of the report for propaganda purposes as “pure Goebbels”. [v].  Jobs depend on the continuation of trade, not on continued EU membership.  Trade is not going to stop.  See FAQ Trade