Researchers warn of grim economic data in years after EU withdrawal

New research has warned the UK’S economy could shrink by as much as 5.5 per cent in the decade after Brexit.

A report by the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics (LSE) found the deal negotiated by Prime Minister Theresa May could reduce UK GDP per capita ten years after Brexit by between 1.9 per cent and 5.5 per cent compared with remaining in the EU.

The cost to the public finances would be between 0.4 per cent and 1.8 per cent of GDP 0 Professor Jonathan Portes: ‘Deal could mean higher taxes’

over the same period, with the corresponding figures for a no-deal Brexit between 1 per cent and 3.1 per cent.

The report, based on modelling done by LSE and the Insti- tute for Fiscal Studies, was published by think-tank UK in a Changing Europe

Senior fellow Professor Jonathan Portes said: “The Brexit deal would leave us in a customs union with the EU for the indefinite future, but it is a long way from frictionless trade. The additional trade barriers, combined with reductions in both skilled and unskilled migration from the ending of free movement, would leave the UK significantly smaller than it would otherwise have been over the medium to long term. That in turn would mean higher taxes or public spending.”