Brexit To Keep Wages Down And Make 2020s UK Poorer UK

Brexit will damage Britain's competitiveness, hit productivity and dampen workers' wages for the rest of the decade, according to a damning new study.

- Adam Forrest

The Resolution Foundation think tank's report, in collaboration with the London School of Economics, said quitting the EU would make Britain "poorer" during the 2020s.

The study said the immediate impact of Brexit was already clear, with a "depreciation-driven inflation spike" increasing the cost of living for households and cutting investment.

The research estimated that labour productivity will be reduced by 1.3 per cent by the end of the decade through changes in trading rules, contributing to weaker wage growth.

The economists said real pay was set to be £470 lower per worker each year, on average, than it would have been if Britain had opted to stay inside the EU.

Output of the UK fishing industry is expected to decline by 30 per cent and some workers will face "painful adjustments" in the decade ahead, said the Resolution Foundation.

The report also added that the northeast of England - part of the red wall Boris Johnson's Conservatives were able to turn blue at the last election - is expected to be hit hardest by Brexit, since its firms are particularly reliant on exports to the EU.