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Brexit is costing the British economy about £350 million a week rather than bringing that amount back, according to research by the Financial Times.

The research turns on its head the infamous claim by the Vote Leave campaign that figure could be saved weekly and ploughed back into the NHS.

In the run up to the vote economists for Brexit predicted the economy would expand by 2.7 per cent in 2007 on the back of a vote to leave the EU.

The Treasury predicted a slight recession. But in fact the growth rate appears to be slowing to 1.5 per cent – at a time when the world economy is strengthening.

A range of economic estimates calculated by the Financial Times now suggests that the value of the UK's economic output is now 0.9 per cent lower that if the country as a whole had voted to stay in the EU. Ironically, that equates to about £350 million a week.

The FT quotes Jonathan Portes, professor of economics and public policy at King's College, London, as saying: “The conclusion that, very roughly, Brexit has already reduced UK growth by 1 per cent or slightly less seems clear.”

In October, the International Monetary Fund, highlighted the UK as a “notable exception” to an improving international outlook while the OECD has raised concerns about the “ongoing slowdown in the economy induced by Brexit.”

With the fall in the value of the pound by about 10 per cent since the June 2016 vote, inflation has risen in the UK than other advanced economies.

The FT quotes research by Thomas Sampson and colleagues at the London School of Economics showing the direct effects of sterling depreciation – the effects started with petrol prices, went on to food and other goods – together pushing up inflation from the 0.4 per cent at the time of the referendum to 3.1 per cent last month.

Sampson says: “The increase in inflation caused by the Leave vote has already hurt UK households.”

The LSE study estimates that the Brexit vote caused a 1.7 per cent hike in inflation – of the 2.7 per cent it rose – in the 12 months following the referendum.

The FT also quotes him as saying that “the Brexit vote has cost the average worker almost one week's wages.” But he says that the amount could be higher if wider economic effects are taken into account.

Another major effect outlined in the research is a dramatic fall in business investment from what was forecast.

UK-wide business investment grew at an annual rate of 1.3 per cent in the third quarter compared to a March official forecast of 6.1 per cent for the whole of 2017.