London’s Mayor Claims Brexit Has Incurred a Financial Toll of More Than $178 Billion

London Mayor Sadiq Khan asserted on Thursday that the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union has resulted in a 6% reduction in its economy, translating to an annual economic cost of £140 billion ($178 billion), with the shortfall seen reaching 10% by 2035
Khan, a member of the opposition Labour Party, which opposed Brexit in the 2016 referendum, contends that the prevailing hard-line version of Brexit has adversely impacted the nation’s economic trajectory, thereby augmenting the cost of living. In his pre-scheduled remarks, Khan expressed his perspective on the matter, emphasizing the apparent challenges and consequences of the current Brexit scenario on the UK economy.
It has become increasingly apparent that the current manifestation of the Brexit arrangement is proving ineffective. The implementation of a stringent Brexit approach has resulted in a deleterious impact on our economy and an escalation in the overall cost of living, as articulated by Khan in his pre-scheduled remarks preceding a forthcoming speech on Thursday.
Labour presently holds a substantial lead over Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives, setting the stage for an election anticipated in the latter half of the current year.
Despite Labour Party leader Keir Starmer’s reticence in divulging specific strategies for fortifying relations with the European Union, Cambridge Econometrics’ assessment of the costs associated with Brexit exceeds some recent estimations.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) projected in November that Brexit has resulted in a reduction of the British economy by an estimated 2%-3%, with the anticipated impact poised to escalate to 5%-6% by the year 2035.
Jonathan Haskel, a policymaker at the Bank of England, made a private capacity estimation last year suggesting that Brexit has negatively affected business investment to an extent that is expected to diminish the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 1.3% by the conclusion of 2022, translating to approximately £1,000 per household per annum.
In concurrence, Cambridge Econometrics posited that Brexit is anticipated to curtail annual economic growth in the United Kingdom by 0.4 percentage points over the period until 2035. Furthermore, it is forecasted to lead to a reduction in employment levels by 3 million by the year 2035 and a consequential decline of one-third in investment.
It is noteworthy that the assessment of Brexit’s implications has been complicated by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, occurring just months after the formal departure of Britain from the European Union in January 2020.
The migration landscape has witnessed a notable surge in net migration to Britain due to the implementation of a new work visa system, resulting in a significant increase in immigration from non-EU countries. This influx has outweighed the decline in the number of immigrants from the EU, who were previously exempt from visa requirements.
($1 = 0.7843 pounds)