UK government suggests Brexit will hurt the economy

GOVERNMENT analysis suggest that the UK will be poorer economically under any form of Brexit, compared with staying in the EU.

Official figures clarify that the UK economy could be up to 3.9% smaller after 15 years under Theresa May’s Brexit plan, compared with staying in the EU.

However, a no-deal Brexit could deliver a 9.3% hit, the new estimates say.

Chancellor Philip Hammond said the deal was not just about the economy, but would deliver “political benefits” too.

The government’s Brexit deal faces a potentially difficult vote in the House of Commons on 11 December.

Before that vote the prime minister has been touring the country to promote the deal, with her next stop in Scotland.

The Treasury estimates do not put a cash figure on the potential impact on the economy, but independent experts have said that 3.9% of GDP would equate to about £100bn a year by the 2030s.

The 83-page document does not attempt precisely to forecast the impact of Mrs May’s deal.