Why warnings about 'hard Brexit' fall on deaf ears

John Springford of the Centre for European Reform argues today that this upbeat economic data are allowing the Brexiters to brush aside for now arguments about economic risks. But he warns: "Brexit is not an event but a process of disintegration." He cites evidence suggesting that if the UK ends up with a free-trade agreement with the EU rather than single market membership, the cost could be between 0.75 per cent and 3 per cent of gross domestic product. These are, he says, "big numbers in economic terms".