People up and down the country can ill afford for silly season squabbles to distract us from the complexity of Brexit
by Andrew Carter / August 8, 2017 / Leave a comment
New research shows that Brexit will impact the economic output of every city in the UK. Photo: Flickr/West Midlands Police
August is traditionally the start of the media silly season in the UK, but this year it got going earlier than usual in the UK with the Government providing much of the shenanigans. In the past month, British politics has been dominated by reports of aspiring Cabinet ministers locking horns over the Tory leadership after “too much warm prosecco,” and by the very public squabble among ministers over how quickly and suddenly Brexit would be implemented – both of which has done little to inspire confidence that the Government has a coherent plan for exiting the EU.
However, amidst the summer politicking and parties, a new report by Centre for Cities should make for sobering reading for Government ministers, particularly those pushing for a hard Brexit. The report (published in partnership with the Centre for Economic Performance at LSE) charts for the first time the likely impact of both a hard or soft Brexit on UK cities in the decade after new trade arrangements with the EU are put in place—and in both scenarios, the news isn’t good.
The research shows that all British cities are set to see a fall in economic output as a result of leaving the EU, because of the predicted increase in trade costs that both a ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ Brexit will bring. It also reveals that the economic impact will be almost twice as big in the event of a ‘hard’ Brexit, which the research predicts will bring an average 2.3% reduction in economic output across all UK cities (compared to a 1.2 per cent decrease if we have a soft Brexit).
You have now reached your limit of 3 free articles in the last 30 days.
But don't worry! You can get another 7 articles absolutely free, simply by entering your email address in the box below.
When you register we'll also send you a free e-book—Writing with punch—which includes some of the finest writing from our archive of 22 years. And we'll also send you a weekly newsletter with the best new ideas in politics and philosophy of culture, which you can of course unsubscribe from at any time
Prospect may process your personal information for our legitimate business purposes, to provide you with our newsletter, subscription offers and other relevant information.
Click to learn more about these interests and how we use your data. You will be able to object to this processing on the next page and in all our communications.
