Brexit fears drag UK consumer confidence to 18-month low, survey finds

Brexit is already costing the UK’s public finances £17bn a year, according to a separate study released ahead of critical votes in parliament this week. The amount would be sufficient to pay 10,000 more police to patrol the streets and train nurses to fill every vacancy in England, and still leave enough to cover the UK’s current contribution to the EU’s budget. The research from the Centre for European Reform estimates the UK economy is 2.3 per cent smaller than it would have been had Britain voted to remain in the EU back in 2016.