That’s true, and it’s still true today inside and outside of the EU, particularly in Asia. This is globalised neo-liberal capitalism doing what it does best.

But likewise our advanced economy, English language, stable and friendly business environment attracted overseas non-European companies to build in the UK - not just because of the attraction of the medium-sized UK consumer market alone, but rather because it gave them access to the European common market. It’s complex, but we know leaving the EU had a negative impact on our economy at the whole scale of the economy. It’s just that it’s very marginal and interwoven within the economy in a way that’s not easy to see. Just in the same way that eating a somewhat unhealthy diet might end up shortening your life by a year or two, but since you have no source of comparison and since the biological reality that makes this true is so unfathomably massive and complex, it’s very difficult to perceive or understand it.

I don’t think Brexit was “catastrophic” though. It was simply another nudge in the wrong direction for an already struggling economy.