Another report on the impact of a hard Brexit has shone a spotlight on how bad it will be (Picture: Getty)

Another gloom-laden report on Brexit was published on Thursday.

The Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) has reported that a no-deal Brexit will lead to a £30billion hit to the public finances.

But what do such monopoly numbers about Brexit really mean for individuals and for families?

Well, a hard Brexit is already hurting us before it has even happened.


The jostling of Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt to be the Brexit hard man has already caused a large fall in the value of the pound.

The big fall in the exchange rate shows that financial markets expect the worst-case scenario for the economy – a win for Boris.



The fall in the exchange rate has increased the prices of imported goods and has squeezed family budgets.

Many will have seen the cost of their regular shop shoot up and a hard Brexit may also lead to shortages of goods including essential items such as medicines.

Britons on foreign holidays have been hit by the higher cost of flights, hotels, and meals.

Things will get worse in Europe if mobile roaming fees go up and additional travel insurance will be needed when EHIC cards are no longer valid.

And if you have a British passport, prepare to spend a long time at European airports as you will be queuing in the ‘slow lane’ with the worst airports likely to be in Spain.

Jacob Rees-Mogg’s predictions that a hard Brexit will boost the economy by £80bn is a Mickey Mouse forecast (Picture: Getty Images)

But the biggest impacts are yet to come.

A no-deal Brexit will cause the economy to grow more slowly and the OBR thinks there may be a full-blown recession.

This will mean that wages will be lower than they would be if we stayed in the EU or if there was a soft Brexit. Also, some workers will lose their jobs – especially if firms move abroad to remain in the single European market.

What happens if you are running a business? Well, your markets and your profits are going to take a hit. Say, you don’t export to the EU – you are still likely to suffer if you export to other countries because of the failure of the UK to strike trade deals.

Ok, if you don’t export to anybody will you be fine? Unfortunately not, as your UK-based customers are going to have less money to spend.

Government revenues are also going to plummet, so expect expenditure cuts.

If you are ill, this may lead to longer waiting times to be treated at your local hospital and if you have children at school their class-size will get bigger.

Of course, Johnson and Hunt are promising to shake the magic money tree and spend more.

But that would just further scare the financial markets leading to a further downward spiral of the pound.

Despite promising the moon, the next Tory Prime minister is likely to impose even more austerity to deal with the financial black hole.

But won’t we save all that money that we send to the EU?



Even if we welch on our commitments, the savings will be small beer compared to the loss in tax revenue from a slow-growing economy.

Jacob Rees-Mogg has proclaimed that a hard Brexit would boost the economy by £80bn. It won’t, this is a Mickey Mouse forecast.

Of course, serious economic forecasts differ over the impact of Brexit as it is not easy to calculate the impact of unique events. But they all agree that the impact will be negative.

Not many will benefit from a hard Brexit apart from those who profit from a volatile economy such as managers of hedge funds.

Most of us are going to be worse off. For some, this may be a price worth paying to ‘take back control’. But for many, it is not.

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