Politics

‘What have we done?’: Brexit costing UK £100 billion in lost output

Shocking new figures have laid bare the cost of Brexit.

According to the government’s own analysis, Britain’s split with the European Union will cost the UK £100 billion over the long-term in lost output.

That equates to several years’ worth of net contributions to the EU – estimated to be £12.6 billion – with none of the benefits, Otto English pointed out.

According to Guardian analysis, the OECD calculates that the UK will record the lowest growth in the G20 next year with the exception of Russia whose economy is being drained by its war on Ukraine.

The Office for Budget Responsibility says Brexit will have a long-term effect of cutting UK GDP by a hefty 4 per cent, an estimate unchanged since early 2020.

The Financial Times says such a decline amounts to £100 billion in lost output, and £40 bilion less revenue to the Treasury a year.

The UK is now behind all the other G7 nations in the pace of its recovery from the pandemic, with exports by UK small businesses to the EU down significantly.

Geoffrey Betts, the managing director of a small office supplies business in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, voted to leave the EU in 2016.

“I thought we would be like … ‘here we go, here we go. We are going to become the most competitive country in Europe and we are going to be encouraging business.’

“Now I think: ‘What have we done?’”, he said.

Related: Starmer unveils new three-word Brexit slogans for Labour Party

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Published by
Tags: Brexit