City AM: Forget the pandemic: Brexit’s impact on UK economy will be much worse, warns fiscal chief

28 October 2021

The consequences of the UK leaving the European Union will be much more serious than the economic impact of the pandemic, the boss of the UK’s fiscal watchdog warns this morning.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had assumed leaving the EU would “reduce our long run gross domestic product by around 4 per cent”, adding: “We think that the effect of the pandemic will reduce that (GDP) output by a further 2 per cent,” its chief Richard Hughes said.

In the long term it is the case that Brexit has a bigger impact than the pandemic

OBR chief Richard Hughes

Hughes’ comments to the BBC came only hours after the OBR responded to Rishi Sunak’s latest Budget by saying it expected inflation to reach 4.4 per cent while warning it could hit “the highest rate seen in the UK for three decades”.

Fishing row

It came as Downing Street vowed to retaliate against France if Paris goes ahead with a “disappointing and disproportionate” threat to impose sanctions in an escalation of a row over fishing boats....

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