A Conservative peer and former minister has blamed Brexit for higher inflation, the fall in the pound and the increased cost of living in the UK.
Speaking on the BBC’s Question Time, Lord Chris Patten warned the UK is in “one hell of a mess” due to Brexit.
He said: “Our GDP per capita now is less than not only France, Germany, the Netherlands, it’s lower than Ireland.
“It’s lower – for heaven’s sake – than Lithuania. The poorest 20 per cent in Britain are poorer than the poorest 20 per cent in Poland. That is not the sign of a country which has things going for it.”
Although Lord Patten did reference the Government’s much-needed intervention on energy prices and the furlough scheme, which increased inflation, he went on to add Brexit to the list of major contributing factors to the UK economy’s performance.
“But it’s also – and this is a word one isn’t supposed to use anymore, because of Brexit.
“It’s because of what Brexit did to the value of the pound.
“It’s because of what Brexit has done to make it more difficult for us to import goods and for us to import labour and importing food.
“Now it’s costing us, according to the [London School of Economics], £7 billion more a year because we’re outside the European Union.
“And until we start facing up to the realities of our life, to the fact that we can’t possibly spend money on all the things we want, increase public spending and cut taxes, it’s absolutely impossible.”
The Tory peer also referenced comments from Larry Summer, the former US Treasury Secretary who said Brexit had been a “historic economic error”.
He said that due to leaving the EU, there was more downward pressure on the pound, increased issues for imports and exports, and has created further strain on the labour market.
Although inflation fell from 10.1 per cent in March to 8.7 per cent in April, it still remains higher than the US, which stands at 4.9 per cent, and the Eurozone at 6.1 per cent.
UK exporters have also complained that additional customs paperwork for moving products between the UK and EU – although the Government has eased pressures moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland – has caused clients to source materials from the continent instead.
In the report by the LSE, which was referenced by Lord Patten, it found that food inflation would have been at 17 per cent, not 25 per cent, had the UK had not left the EU.
The report also found that increased trade barriers had pushed average household food bills up by £250.
