Brexit is costing the British government 500m pounds a week, according to a new report published on September 30 by the Centre for European Reform, a research group that focuses on the European Union. It said the British economy is about 2.5% smaller than it would have been if the public have voted to remain in the bloc in June 2016.
Its findings were based on the impact on the economy until the end of June 2018.
As reported by the Reuters news agency, public finances have been dented by 26bn pounds a year, the equivalent of 500m pounds a week and a figure that is growing, the group said here.
The Centre for European Reform, which describes itself as “pro-European but not uncritical”, said it created a model of how Britain’s economy could have performed had the campaign to remain in the EU won the referendum in 2016.
The group said its analysis was based on 22 advanced economies whose characteristics closely matched Britain and that did not vote to leave the EU. They then compared it with Britain’s actual economic performance since the vote.
At the time of the Brexit referendum in 2016, supporters of leaving the EU claimed that Britain would benefit because it would no longer be sending 350m pounds a week to the bloc. Supporters also say the EU will benefit over the long-term by setting its own rules and forging its own trade deals with countries like India and China.
