WELL, the cat is out of the bag. Brexit visionary Nigel Farage has finally admitted the truth – that Brexit has been an unmitigated disaster for households and businesses across these islands.

Three years ago, on 31 January 2020, the British flags that had flown outside European Union buildings for over 40 years were lowered. The then prime minister Boris Johnson had “got Brexit done.” Except he hadn’t.

The UK economy looks sickly against international comparisons, so let’s be honest about the three causes.

With its economy in tatters, England is not having its finest hour. It is a time of transition for the United Kingdom... /

Our silence over the issue is compounding the problem.

On trade, finance, migration, food standards and more, the UK suffers fresh ignominy on a daily basis.

As if the trials of coping with the pandemic weren’t enough to cause a deep depression, the opening months of 2021 saw a gathering storm for UK musicians as the country exited the European Union, thus opening the doors to a whirlwind of confusion, delays, unexpected price hikes and the promise of worse to come.

A US-UK trade deal is being negotiated, and drug prices are a key issue. Several US officials are demanding that foreign countries pay higher prices to US drug companies.

The next, Brexit-induced recession will be most painful for poorer households, who are also those that voted Leave in greatest numbers.

Could Brexit mean cheaper food on our supermarket shelves? The idea has been propagated by politicians such as Jacob Rees-Mogg and business people like JD Wetherspoon’s owner Tim Martin, who promised lower prices in his “Beermat Manifesto”.