Revealed: Brexit costing the UK £250m a day in lost tax revenue

EMBARGO: Immediate release

The UK is losing £250m a day in lost tax revenue due to the economic impact of Brexit, new analysis has revealed.

The analysis suggests Brexit has blown a black hole of £90 billion a year in the public finances.

A recent study from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a leading US-based thinktank, found that the economic damage caused by the previous Government’s Brexit deal since 2016 has kept the UK economy between 6% and 8% smaller than it could have been.

Analysis of those figures by the House of Commons Library now suggests without those blows to GDP, the Treasury could have benefitted per year to the tune of £90 billion more in tax revenue in 2024/25. This is assuming the economic damage of Brexit amounted to the higher estimate of 8% of GDP. Even under the lower estimate of 6%, the annual hit to tax revenues would be around £65 billion.

The analysis also estimates that the average Brit is thousands of pounds worse off due to the Conservative Brexit deal. The hit to UK GDP per capita from Brexit identified by NBER is between £2,700 and £3,700.

The Liberal Democrats said it showed the government must be far bolder in fixing the damage done by Brexit, including by backing the party’s Customs Union Bill, set to be voted on in the House of Commons on 9th December.

ENDS

Notes to Editor: 

Please find details on the Liberal Democrat bill to introduce a customs union bill, set to be introduced on 9 December, here.