.@Google CEO says it’s investing £1bn in UK & Britain’s still an attractive place to do business despite #Brexithttps://t.co/mbBOOdTDqb pic.twitter.com/jt6VYgd6KA

— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) November 15, 2016

During the referendum Remain campaigners made much of the importance of the “Digital Single Market”. Chi Onwurah, Labour’s Shadow Digital Minister, claimed that it was essential for tech businesses that Britain stayed in the EU’s “Digital Single Market”. She claimed there was “nearly unanimous concern across small tech businesses”. In Guido’s experience most small tech entrepreneurs thought the EU was totally irrelevant to their business needs.

Yesterday we learnt that the world’s biggest digital firm doesn’t care about being in the “Digital Single Market” either. Google’s announcement of a £1 billion extra investment and 3,000 more jobs is a doubling of its bet on Britain to be the dominant digital nation in Europe, CEO Sundar Pichai cited Britain’s “open and connected economy”. It also signals that the “Digital Single Market” is not really attractive to them, it is really just a common regulatory zone. If we know the EU it will be an over-regulated, subsidy ridden, dirigiste failure.

*Kamal Ahmed’s BBC report of this is almost a #DespiteBrexit parody.