North East has more at stake than other UK regions in the EU referendum: But do people realise?

In April last year, research from the Centre for European Reform showed why British exit from the EU risks hitting my home region harder than most, making already shocking levels of regional inequality worse. Poorer regions of the UK are more dependent on exports to the EU than richer ones. Exports to the EU account for 15% of private sector output in the North East of England supporting around 170,000 jobs in the region, compared to 9% in the South West of England and Scotland, two of the UK's richer regions.