Money UK has lost since Brexit vote exceeds EU budget payments, study shows
Britain has lost US$30 billion in two years, cash the government was hoping to reclaim from Europe when it leaves the bloc next March
The damage to the UK economy caused by the vote to leave the European Union two years ago already exceeds the size of the budget contributions Britain will be able to claim back when it finally leaves the bloc, according to an economic study by the Centre for European Reform.
Uncertainty caused by Brexit has already caused a 2.1 per cent dip in economic output, even before Britain’s departure next March, the CER said late on Friday in an emailed statement. That has cost the public finances £23 billion (US$30 billion) in lost tax revenue, the think tank said.
The economic damage means the Treasury has less money to spend on public services and knocks on the head the idea that Britain will enjoy a “Brexit dividend” when it no longer has to contribute to the European budget, it said.
“Two years on from the referendum, we now know that the Brexit vote has seriously damaged the economy,” said CER Deputy Director John Springford, who wrote the study. “We know that the government’s Brexit dividend is a myth: the vote is costing the Treasury £440 million a week, far more than the UK ever contributed to the EU budget.”
