May’s Brexit deal could cost UK economy £100bn by 2030

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has managed to get EU leaders to sign off on her Brexit deal, but as it stands the draft withdrawal agreement is expected to cost the UK economy around £100 billion each year by 2030, according to new report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR).

Despite the economic hit to the UK economy will suffer at the hands of Brexit, which will see each British person burdened by long-term economic costs in the range of £700 - £1100 a year, May’s withdrawal agreement will hurt the country’s economy far less than if it were to bail out without a deal, the report said.

A deal is better than no deal

According to the NIESR report, in years since the 2016 Brexit referendum the UK GDP has fallen by around 2% compared to estimates figures had Britain voted to remain in the EU.

But despite May constantly stating that ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’, a no deal scenario would have cost Britain around £140 billion a year and led to a 5% fall in GDP, the report said.

‘Our assessment is that trade with the EU, especially in services, will be more costly after Brexit,’ it said. ‘This is likely to have an adverse effect on living standards in the UK.’

The best and only deal

Now that the prime minister has secured support for her deal from EU leaders, she is looking to drum up support from the public, saying in a recent press conference that ‘the British people don’t want to spend any time arguing about Brexit’.

She also stressed that the deal she has brokered with EU leaders ‘is the best possible deal’ and the only deal on the table in the hope that MPs will support the it in the House of Commons in December.