The Tories and Labour are saying one thing on Brexit and doing another

So now we know. Brexit is proving even worse for the UK economy than the official forecast of a 4 per cent hit to GDP over 15 years. It’s already reached 5.5 per cent, according to a study by the Centre for European Reform (CER) think-tank.

...The CER calculates that Brexit is costing the government £40bn a year in lost revenue, which on ministers’ own figures would allow them to give all public sector workers an inflation-linked pay rise instead of a real-terms cut and still have £12bn to spare. The think tank also cites a very clear Brexit effect on business investment, which hits productivity and therefore the politicians’ holy grail of growth.

The study is not a one-off. The trade figures used to get much more media coverage than they muster today, but they are another ticking timebomb. Experts believe the UK is heading for a record trade deficit in 2022. Overall, imports outgunned exports by £75bn over the past 12 months, more than double the previous record. Of course, Brexit is a factor.

...Today’s CER report should surely allow the two parties to be a little more honest about Brexit with the public. Sunak and Starmer fret about upsetting 2016 Leave voters in the red wall seats. Yet the opinion polls show that a majority of people think Brexit was the wrong decision, with one in five who voted Leave believing that was the wrong call.