London mayor accuses 'hard Brexit zealots' of ignoring economic evidence
By Duncan Ferris
Date: Wednesday 04 Jul 2018
(Sharecast News) - London's mayor Sadiq Khan has criticised Brexit-supporters in the government of putting an "ideological obsession" ahead of Britain's interests.
Khan said Prime Minister Theresa May was being "held hostage" by right-wing Tory MPs ahead of this weeks meeting at Chequers where the cabinet will decide a final position on its Brexit position.
The mayor, who speaking at an FT125 Women's Forum event, singled out Boris Johnson, David Davis and Michael Gove as having ignored "overwhelming" evidence of business implications since the 2016 referendum.
"It's been more than two years since the Brexit referendum and this government is more divided and dysfunctional than ever. At the very heart of the cabinet are hard Brexit zealots who are hell-bent on crashing the UK out of the single market and customs union without any plan to protect trade, investment and jobs," said Khan.
Khan is a supporter of the UK's continued membership of the single market and customs union, a position not shared by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn who backs a new customs agreement with the EU.
"The Prime Minister appears to understand what is at stake, but is being held hostage by the hard Brexiteers. If ministers do not sort themselves out, and secure a sensible Brexit deal that is in the best interests if the entire country, then they may never be forgiven," said Khan.
Independent economic analysis of the impact of various Brexit scenarios on jobs in the capital and on nine sectors of the economy in London and across the UK, which was commissioned by Khan last year, found there could be a £54bn cost to the UK economy with up to half a million job losses by 2030.
The study, carried out by Cambridge Econometrics, looked at a set of scenarios ranging from leaving the single market, the customs union, leaving both altogether or, in the worst case, failing to get any deal.
Khan commissioned the study after Brexit secretary David Davis admitted that no economic sector-by-sector analysis had been conducted into the impact of Brexit on the economy.
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