Press

Letters: The Brexit effect

16 June 2022
Prospect
In Tom Clark’s excellent round-up of the economic effects of Brexit, he noted that exports to the EU “look almost unaffected on the headline numbers.” As ever with statistics, it depends on how you cut it.

War on its doorstep has rekindled talk of enlarging the EU

16 June 2022
The Economist
Barring reform of the EU, any current member has the power to derail any application, notes Luigi Scazzieri of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank in London. 

Brexit trade friction caused 15% fall in UK-EU exports in first half of 2021

15 June 2022
Financial Times
John Springford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform noted there was “some disagreement among economists about the extent to which the TCA has reduced UK trade. But, he added, “all agree that it has made the British economy significantly more closed”.

UK government Brexit reforms ‘risk trade war with Brussels’

15 June 2022
Global Trade Review
The Centre for European Reform estimates goods trade is 13.6% lower than had the UK remained an EU member state. Comparing the British economy to a basket of countries with similar economic performances prior to Brexit, the Brussels-based think tank suggests UK GDP is 5% smaller and investment 14% lower as a result of leaving the bloc. 

Have we passed the high-water mark of European unity on Ukraine?

15 June 2022
LSE blog
EU leaders presented a united response in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Yet as the war continues, this unity is coming under strain. 

Liz Truss struggles for momentum in Conservative leadership race

14 June 2022
Financial Times
Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, a think-tank, said Truss’s style had not always gone down well in Brussels and major EU capitals like Paris and Berlin. “They feel as if she treats the diplomatic world like it’s the Tory party conference,” he added.

UK now ‘teetering on brink of trade war with EU’, warn London business leaders

14 June 2022
The Evening Standard
His [Richard Burge, chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry] warning came after the Centre for European Reform think-tank estimated that Brexit has already dealt a £31 billion blow to Britain’s economy.

CER podcast: Is Brexit to blame for Britain's economic woes?

John Springford, Thomas Sampson, Rosie Giorgi
14 June 2022
In this week's CER podcast Rosie Giorgi spoke to economists John Springford and Thomas Sampson about how Brexit has impacted the UK economy.

Only independence can unite young Scots

13 June 2022
The Times
If England votes for Brexit, this policy, which latest Centre for European Reform figures show has cost the UK economy £31 billion so far, shall be visited on the four constituent parts of the UK, even if it damages business and, in the case of Northern Ireland, threatens a hard-won peace.

Cabinet minister in ‘complete denial’ over Brexit harm to Britain’s economy which experts put at £31billion

13 June 2022
Yahoo News
An analysis by the Centre for European Reform puts the GDP blow to the UK economy from quitting the EU at £31 billion.The leading think-thank estimated the figure by creating a doppelganger model of Britain’s economy to compare how it would have performed if it had remained in the European trading bloc.

Is Brexit working? Four key tests

12 June 2022
The Observer
The Centre for European Reform estimates that the UK has seen a growth shortfall relative to economically comparable countries of more than 5% over the period, although it recognises that not all of this is down to Brexit. 

'Boris out of ideas and now fighting old battles - we're stuck until he's gone'

12 June 2022
The Mirror
Johnson’s £31billion Brexit damage to the UK economy – the respected Centre for European Reform calculated a 5.2% growth hit – combined with polls finding most people wish we had stayed in the EU expose the protocol push as a naked attempt to appease his party’s Right-whingers.

Change record! ITV fury at Brexit claim 'clear damage' from EU exit 'hard to ignore'

12 June 2022
The Express
While Joel Hills, the ITV's Business and Economics Editor, did acknowledge the “greater political freedoms” of Brexit, including being able to “enact immigration reforms and a speedy vaccine rollout”, he went on to argue the “economic benefits are far harder to identify”.
He argued this point in an online article on the basis of research by the Centre for European Reform (CER), which found that by the end of last year the UK’s economy was 5.2 percent, or £31billion, smaller than it would have been had it stayed in the EU.

Brexit is ‘largely to blame’ for UK’s £31bn revenue loss

11 June 2022
The Independent (Ireland)
Brexit is “largely to blame” for billions being lost in Britain’s trade and tax revenues in recent years, according to a new study .The Centre for European Reform (CER) said that by the end of last year, Britain’s economy was 5.2PC – or £31bn (€36bn) – smaller than it would have been without Brexit and the Covid pandemic.“We can’t blame Brexit for all of the 5.2pc GDP shortfall… but it’s apparent that Brexit is largely to blame,” said John Springford, author of the CER study.

What is the true cost of Brexit?

11 June 2022
The National Wales
“The results are sobering,” says John Springford, the author of the report that removes all doubt that it is more Brexit rather than the pandemic that is bringing Britain to its knees.The report by the Centre for European Reform think-tank unveils findings that show leaving the free trade market will have a bigger impact on the UK economy in the long term than Covid-19.

Brexit ‘largely to blame’ for £31bn loss to UK economy, study finds

10 June 2022
The Independent
Brexit is “largely to blame” for billions being lost in trade and tax revenues in recent years, according to a new study by top economists.The Centre for European Reform (CER) said that by the end of last year, Britain’s economy was 5.2 per cent – or £31bn – smaller than it would have been without Brexit and the Covid pandemic.“We can’t blame Brexit for all of the 5.2 per cent GDP shortfall …. but it’s apparent that Brexit is largely to blame,” said John Springford, author of the CER study.

Alt-Brexit

10 June 2022
Financial Times
The Centre for European Reform calculates that compared with a doppelgänger model where the UK had not left the EU, the country’s GDP is 5.2 per cent lower in the post-Brexit, post-Covid reality. 

SNP accuse Rishi Sunak of failing to listen to experts as £11 billion is wasted

10 June 2022
The National
It comes as research from the Centre for European Reform (CER) showed that by the end of last year the UK’s economy was 5% smaller than it would have been had we still been members of the European Union. CER’s figures showed that this amounted to around £31 billion.

LBC: The economic impact of Brexit

10 June 2022
John Springford discussed the economic impact of Brexit on the UK with Martin Stanford. Short of re-joining the single market or the EU as a whole, John said the UK needs to invest in boosting productivity, improve transport infrastructure & streamline trade policy as much as possible.

Brexit and Covid ‘leave UK trailing behind rivals’

10 June 2022
The Times
Brexit and the pandemic have reduced the size of the UK economy by 5.2 per cent compared with its peers, according to research that largely blames Britain’s exit from the European Union for stunted growth.Analysis from the Centre for European Reform think-tank found that Brexit was the main driver of weakening growth, falling goods exports and chronically low business investment.Using a model comparing the UK with similar countries to provide a shadow economy as a point of reference, the analysis concluded that Britain’s GDP was £31 billion, or 5.2 per cent, lower than its “doppelganger” at the end of last year.