Is there anyone alive today in the UK who is not absolutely sick to the teeth of brexit, and with no sign of an end, or even the beginning of the end in sight. And yet there is no escape from recurrent lies.

Yet again, Boris Johnson brings out of the cupboard the idea that we can save ourselves £350m a week or £18bn a year once we’re out of the EU and spend that money on the NHS instead.

Yet again, responsible people point out that this is a lie, that there is no truth to the £18bn figure and once again a group of plonkers in on-line forums says, “Yes, but…” and happily repeats the figure as if it were true.

Repeating it doesn’t make it true. Pointing out that people are just telling lies, surely they must know by now that there is no truth to the figure, just seems to make them double down.

They seem to just not understand the numbers, any numbers:

The £5bn rebate is never paid to Brussels ie. of the £18bn gross figure you are mis-quoting, £5bn stays in the UK and is spent (or not) entirely at the discretion of the UK government.

Of the actual payment to the EU, the £13bn net figure paid to Europe, an additional £4.4bn is paid back to the UK in the form of agricultural payments etc.

& also in addition £1.4bn more is paid back to the UK in terms of payments to universities etc in the form of scientific research

& on top of that, the EU pays £1bn in lieu of us paying our foreign aid commitments directly.

The net payment to the EU is around £7-8bn. which fades into insignificance compared to our trade with the EU.

& if people want to talk about trade with the EU versus opening up of supposed trade outside of the EU, then in addition to direct UK-EU trade, people really should take into account the loss of around 70 free trade agreements negotiated by the EU that we disappear when we leave with the likes of Canada, S Korea etc plus the free trade agreements in the pipeline with Japan etc.

None of this is rocket science or even remotely contested.

Why can’t people just cope with the facts as they are rather than telling lies? It is the stupidity that grates most in the end. There is no economic argument for leaving the EU; there just isn’t one to be made.

You could make other (I believe fatuous) arguments around sovereignty and the obviously xenophobic, most likely racist argument against immigration made primarily by people living in areas of low to no immigration.

But there is no economic argument that stands any scrutiny whatsoever. You won – get over it.