Brexit a major cause of UK’s return to austerity, says senior economist

Lorries queue at Dover in February. Saunders said the UK should try to improve trade links with the EU. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images

Brexit is the ultimate reason why the UK now faces a fresh round of austerity, a former interest rate-setter at the Bank of England has said.

“The UK economy as a whole has been permanently damaged by Brexit,” Michael Saunders, who was an external member of the central bank’s monetary policy committee, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.