Boris Johnson has urged people to “shrug off all this negativity and gloom-mongering” about Brexit amid dire economic warnings on the third anniversary of leaving the European Union.
The then prime minister who formally led the UK out of the bloc promised the “opportunities are huge” as his successor Rishi Sunak insisted “huge strides” had already been taken.
“Let’s shrug off all this negativity and gloom-mongering that I hear about Brexit. Let’s remember the opportunities that lie ahead, and the vaccine rollout proves it,” he said.
The former prime minister isn’t alone in crediting Brexit with the fast rollout of the vaccine.
In the past, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Matt Hancock and Michael Gove have attempted to do the same thing, and Suella Braverman was among one of several Tory MPs looking to tie the two things together today.
But as Peter Stefanovic points out, any connection between Brexit and the vaccine rollout is widely disputed.
Full Fact concluded that under European law, the UK was permitted to act independently to approve the vaccine in an emergency.
And now it has been put to bed once and for all:
Related: UK economy set to slam into reverse in 2023 as outlook improves for other G7 nations
