During a special cabinet meeting on Thursday to discuss preparations for the UK crashing out of the union, Mark Carney told Theresa May and her senior ministers of the potentially dire economic consequences of leaving on poor terms.
Cabinet sources said he painted a bleak economic picture of unemployment reaching double figures in percentage terms, house prices falling by 25-35% over three years, and transport links with the EU, including air travel and the Eurostar, stalling.
Several sources said Carney compared the outcome of a no-deal Brexit with the fallout from the 2008 financial crash.
One cabinet minister told the Guardian: “The government wouldn’t just stand by. It didn’t in 2008. He wasn’t saying it was all going to happen but I think there is a recognition that you do have to contemplate the worst-case scenario.”
After the meeting the government released another batch of no-deal technical notices that said UK driving licences may not be valid in the EU, and travellers with UK passports close to expiry may be denied entry into the bloc.
Carney, who left the meeting after delivering his briefing, also set out a second scenario in which Britain left the EU but on worse terms than those offered by the prime minister’s Chequers plan.
One cabinet insider said: “The worse-than-no-deal scenario was very concerning, but it prompted a lot of broad agreement on the steps that we would need to take next to support the British economy in the event of leaving the EU on poor terms.” [...]
Full article on The Guardian
© The Guardian
Key
Hover over the blue highlighted
text to view the acronym meaning
Hover
over these icons for more information
Comments:
No Comments for this Article