Almost exactly a year ago on 27th April 2017, The Telegraph (HERE) hailed a big increase in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the UK when the OECD published the latest figures. It was apparently a sign of confidence in the UK economy. The total was an impressive £197 billion. The piece reminded readers of the concerns expressed by the remain campaign that FDI would be impacted by the referendum result.
"While the Brexit vote last June led to fears that investment could dry up amid uncertainty over the UK’s future trading relationship with the EU, a string of companies have since announced plans to expand in the UK".
In other words it was all a lot of remainer scaremongering wasn't it? Well last Friday the OECD released this year's figures but strangely The Telegraph didn't seem to find space for them. I wonder why?
Well let's have a look - you can see the OECD report HERE. The figures are shown in Table 1 on page 10. We can see the total for 2016-17 was actually £196.034 billion. The equivalent for 2017-18 was £15.098 billion - a fall of 92.3%.
That's right foreign direct investment into the UK dropped by 92%!!
Meanwhile, FDI in Ireland increased by 131%, in Germany by 142% and into France by 42%. Some other countries also suffered falls but the UK's is at an extraordinary rate. But don't worry, Daily Telegraph readers and probably Daily Mail and Sun readers too, will never hear of this until their own employment is affected. Today's investment is tomorrow's jobs, productivity and prosperity but by then it will be too late.
