‘Hard’ Brexit will give the UK an extra £450million a WEEK to spend, claim MPs

LEAVING the EU’s single market and customs union will give the UK a £450 million a week windfall, MPs claimed last night.

New research by the Change Britain campaign showed that a huge £24 billion a year prize is up for grabs if Theresa May rejects a so called “soft Brexit”.

Their option – which it describes as “clean Brexit” – could see annual savings of almost £10.4 billion from contributions to the EU budget and £1.2 billion from scrapping “burdensome” regulations, while also allowing the UK to forge new trade deals worth at least £12.3 billion.

But a “soft Brexit” would see Britain continue to stay in the EU’s single market and customs union so forced to pay into the EU budget and unable to end freedom of movement.

The group said its estimate was “very conservative” and that the benefits of withdrawal from the single market and customs union could be as much as £38.6 billion a year.

Even the lowest forecast within its range of likely outcomes was a boost of £20 billion.

But the figure does not appear to factor in the possibility of a loss of exports to the remaining 27 EU nations, which “soft Brexit” cheerleaders argue could happen if trade barriers go up when we quit the troubled EU.

Change Britain said that the biggest prize on offer was in potential trade agreements outside the EU which Britain could strike if it left the customs union, which requires it to take part only in deals negotiated by the European Commission.

They claim that depending on how many deals the UK secures, the British economy could be boosted by between £8.5 billion and £19.8 billion.

And they also argue that leaving the single market would allow Britain to scrap 59 of the 100 most burdensome regulations on business, saving more than £4 billion.

However, as the Government has indicated that it will keep some of the red tape, the group say the true savings will be around £1.2 billion.

And it said Theresa May’s promise to continue farm and other subsidies means that the total saving from ending contributions to Brussels budgets will be around £10.4 billion, rather than the £14.7 billion which the UK currently pays.

Conservative MP for Dover & Deal Charlie Elphicke – who backed Remain – threw his weight behind the report last night, saying: “This is what people voted for in the referendum.”

He added: “This report makes it clear that there are huge opportunities to be had from making a success of Brexit.

“Leaving the EU fully means we won’t have to pay billions to bloated Brussels bureaucrats.

“It means we will be able to take back control of our borders and end uncontrolled EU immigration.”

“Now everyone, Remainer or Leaver, has a duty to get on with the job of delivering a brighter future for our land.”