Warnings from CBI and IMF as Brexit hits incomes

The impact of Brexit on living standards and companies’ planning has been highlighted by leading business and economic organisations.

Confederation of British Industry director-general Carolyn Fairbairn said firms were now in an “emergency zone” due to the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, ahead of the March 29 EU departure date.

She told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday that firms were already planning “price increases and job reductions” in response to a no-deal Brexit.

And International Monetary Fund boss Christine Lagarde said no arrangementtheresamayreached with Brussels would be as good for the economy as membership and a no-deal Brexit would be “brutal”.

Meanwhile a report from the Resolution Foundation think tank says slower economic growth, stagnant wages and higher inflation since the Brexit referendum means housholds are already £1,500 a year worse off.

Research director James Smith said: “As we approach 29 March, politicians in all parties need to recognise how much is at stake for family living standards and that how the country goes forward, not just where it is heading, matters for household incomes in the here and now.”