More Expensive Than Expected: Brexit Costs UK £500Mln Per Week – Report

According to the Centre for European Reforms, Brexit is costing the public £500 million ($651 million), instead of the £350 million promised by the Leave campaign.

Research shows that the British economy is now 2.5 percent smaller than it would have been if the referendum voted to stay in the European Union.

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All this leads to a penalty of £500 million ($651 million) a week, and this number continues to grow, the report says.

Moreover, if the UK had not voted to leave, the deficit would be down to just 0.1 percent of GDP, or £2 billion ($2.6 billion).

UK Prime Minister Theresa May said on September 21 that London would continue to prepare for a no-deal Brexit after an informal EU summit in Salzburg, which was held on September 19-20, failed to produce a compromise on the format of the post-Brexit economic partnership between London and Brussels, and the Irish border.

In June 2016, the United Kingdom voted in a referendum to leave the European Union and is expected to do so by March 29, 2019. However, both London and Brussels are concerned over a possible no-deal Brexit scenario, as talks on post-Brexit arrangements are hindered by a number of thorny issues, including customs arrangements.