Brexit is going to cost – finance boss

British Finance Minister Philip Hammond came under renewed criticism from pro-Brexit lawmakers yesterday for warning that leaving the European Union without an exit deal would hit public finances, underlining discord in the ruling Conservative Party.

Hammond, seen as one of the most pro-EU members of Prime Minister Theresa May’s Cabinet, has long been a target for the socalled Brexiteers who say the finance ministry is too pessimistic about Britain’s future outside the EU.

In a letter, Hammond referred to forecasts made by his department in January, highlighting that under a no-deal scenario, borrowing would be about £80 billion (R1.4 trillion) a year higher in 15 years’ time as the economy grew more slowly.

He also outlined specific sectors and regions that would be hit particularly hard.

The letter provoked an angry response from the leader of an influential group of pro-Brexit lawmakers within May’s Conservative Party, who said the forecasts were wrong.

“The fact is that neither the chancellor nor the Treasury wants to leave the EU, so they repeat themselves ever more noisily,” lawmaker Jacob Rees-Mogg, head of the European Research Group, told the Times newspaper. – Reuters