A former Tory Party chairman says the UK no longer looks like "a country which has things going for it" in a blistering assessment of its economic woes.
Lord Chris Patten also lashed out at "flat earthers" within the Conservative Party as he told a Question Time audience that we're in "a hell of a mess".
Lord Patten, who was the last Governor of Hong Kong and headed the Tories from 1991 to 1992, pointed out that the poorest in the UK are worse off than those in Poland, while productivity is higher in Lithuania "for heaven's sake".
And he said Brexit had caused huge damage to the economy, telling the BBC show that we're all going to face up to "the realities of our lives".
He said: “The truth is we’re in one hell of a mess. Our GDP per capita now is less than not only France, Germany, the Netherlands, it’s lower than Ireland.
“It’s lower for heaven’s sake than Lithuania. The poorest 20% in Britain are poorer than the poorest 20% in Poland. That is not the sign of a country which has things going for it.”
And warning of more misery to come, he said it was "absolutely impossible" to deliver public service improvements while delivering the tax cuts right-wing Tories are calling for.
Lord Patten said: “But it’s also, and this is a word one isn’t supposed to use anymore, because of Brexit.
“It’s because of what Brexit did to the value of the pound. It’s because of what Brexit has done to make it more difficult for us to import goods and for us to import labour and importing food.
“Now it’s costing us, according to the (London School of Economics), £7 billion more a year because we’re outside the European Union.
“And until we start facing up to the realities of our life, to the fact that we can’t possibly spend money on all the things we want, increase public spending and cut taxes, it’s absolutely impossible.”
The Tory grandee set his sights on those on the right of the Tory Party, saying he has little in common with the current intake.
He told presenter Fiona Bruce: "I was the chair of the Conservative Party when there was one.
"I don't find I have very much in common with the flat earthers on the right of the party."
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