Every sector of the UK economy will be hit following Brexit a leaked Government document has warned. The paper, drawn up by the Department for Exiting
the EU, revealed that growth in the UK could be up to 8% lower than if it
stayed in the EU.
In many ways it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, only last week
Chancellor Philip Hammond painted his own bleak picture when he said that
UK economies could move “only modestly” after Brexit.
And the very best the International Trade Secretary could offer was to
tell people to effectively put up or shut up in relation to the economic
forecasts. He told the Sun Newspaper: “I know there are always
disappointed individuals but they’re going to have to live with
disappointment.”
The leaked paper, entitled EU Exit Analysis – Cross Whitehall Briefing,
explains that “growth would be 5% lower if Britain negotiated a free trade
deal and 2% lower even if the UK were to continue to adhere to the rules
of the single market.”
And yet critics of the leaked document say it doesn’t stipulate the
scenario if the UK Government manages to negotiate a special partnership.
They also argue that economic modelling is highly speculative, if that’s
the case then he same must be true in reverse.
With the negotiations in utter chaos, as evidenced by the Brexit Secretary
who gave woeful evidence last week before the Brexit Committee, a special
relationship is a long way off if at all achievable.
Over the next two days the House of Lords will debate the EU Withdrawal
Bill – some 200 peers are hoping to speak, it has been reported. It will
rightly face tough and rigorous scrutiny and its passage through the
chamber will not be an easy ride.