Hard Brexit ‘would cost Scots £12.7bn a year’
A HARD Brexit without a trade agreement would cost Scotland’s economy £12.7 billion a year, Scottish Government analysis has found.
The figure is equivalent to an 8.5% drop in GDP by 2030 – or £2,300 per person in Scotland per year – compared to retaining full European Union membership, the new study claims.
Nicola Sturgeon has accused Theresa May of a “fundamen- tal dereliction of duty” for failing to produce economic assessments on the impact of Brexit.
The First Minister said the document sets out three different Brexit outcomes on GDP, trade and immigration, and indicates remaining in the European single market and the customs union would be the least damaging economically.
The options analysed are staying in the single market and customs union, a preferential trade agreement or reverting to World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms.
The paper comes as the SNP and other opposition parties ramped up their campaign against a so-called hard Brexit, with Labour facing pressure to join.
The UK Government wants to leave the single market for a bespoke trade deal with the EU.