Financial Pundit Deepens Expat Fears Of A Johnson Victory

British expats in Spain will face the threat of further sterling devaluation should Boris Johnson become the UK’s next PM.

The possibility of the controversial politician’s triumph in the race to become Britain’s Prime Minister has raised alarms amongst Spain’s British expatriate community, with many already forced to tighten their belts due to the fall in the pound’s value since June 2016. In an advertorial poorly camouflaged as an article, the head of one of the UK’s financial groups well known for its often unwelcome presence in a good number of Brit expat havens including Spain, is stoking expat fears with a prophecy that sterling will plummet should Johnson be elected.

The pound, according to the finance company’s CEO, will first get a ‘bloody nose’ after a Johnson victory is confirmed, with the new PM’s enthusiasm for a no-deal Brexit delivering a further blow to the sterling/euro exchange rate. There’s no doubt in most expats’ minds that a Johnson premiership would bring even more disaster to the UK economy and to its currency, but stating the obvious doesn’t help those who’re struggling to make their ungenerous UK state pension last the week after sterling’s latest downgrade against the euro.

Of the few Brexit options still open, a no-deal would plunge the UK back decades, with job losses, cuts to welfare and large as well as small business bankruptcies. The EU has already made it crystal clear no more negotiations will take place, in spite of Johnson’s blethering about a ‘better deal’. In style and appearance as well as policies, Johnson is Britain’s very own Donald Trump, with a similar erratic style, a history of controversies and gaffes and little respect for voters or anyone who disagrees with him, all of which is likely to threaten sterling still further.

News that the Votes for Life Bill has now been discarded via the use of a filibuster means that, yet again, long-stay British citizens living overseas are to be denied any say in their own futures as business owners, retirees or professional employees. However, the CEO is quoted as having said Britain’s financial services industry will be worst hit by yet more devaluation of sterling as it’s built on foreign investment’s regard for a strong pound. Given the overall reputation of IFAs in expat retirement destinations overseas for funnelling expat cash into unsuitable products, this may be the only good news in the hopefully unlikely event of a Johnson victory.