Brexit threatens 750,000 jobs, says new report

Leaving the EU without a deal could cost three quarters of a million workers in Britain their jobs, a new academic report says.

The study, by the UK Trade Policy Observatory at the University of Sussex, also says a soft Brexit would see almost 400,000 jobs lost around the country.

It warns that under a no-deal Brexit, a total of 745,650 British jobs could be lost including 148,050 jobs in London, 80,950 jobs in the north-west, 63,500 jobs in Scotland and 28,600 jobs in Wales.

The research, by Ilona Serwicka and Alan Winters, says that a no-deal Brexit could cost the Cities of London and Westminster parliamentary constituency an estimated 42,400 jobs because of its high density of jobs and the impact of no deal on the country’s financial sector. But 41,250 of the holders of these jobs live in other constituencies.

Residents of Theresa May’s Maidenhead constituency would lose around 1,700 jobs in a no-deal Brexit while 950 residents in Jacob Rees-Mogg’s North East Somerset constituency could be out of work if the UK left without a deal.

1,100 jobs would be lost in in Runnymede and Weybridge, represented by chancellor Philip Hammond.

The report also highlights the devastating impact of a soft Brexit, which would see 368,550 jobs wiped out across the country.

The biggest job cuts among residents would be in large commuter cities such as Watford and Reading, while cities such as Liverpool and Manchester would be hit by job losses among workers who live elsewhere, it was suggested.

Dr Serwicka, a research fellow in the economics of Brexit at the university, said: ‘This research makes very clear that both soft and hard forms of Brexit, but in particular a no-deal Brexit, will have a negative impact on the lives of residents the length and breadth of Britain.

‘Of course, we cannot say for certain that this number of job losses will definitely happen, as employers may choose to reduce number of hours or wages rather than cut workforce, but our analysis shows which areas of the country will take the biggest hits.’

Labour MP Jo Stevens MP, a champion of the anti-Brexit campaign group Best for Britain, said the study showed that Brexit was “a jobs destroyer”.

She said: “This report lays bare the country-wide devastation that would be caused by Brexit – in all of its forms. It would leave communities around the UK starved of work.

‘No one voted to be made poorer and their job less secure. Brexit was supposed to be about a brighter future, but it feels more like an albatross around the country’s neck.

“It’s completely reckless to pursue either of these options. The real choice, which should be put to the people, must include our current bespoke deal as a member of the EU. “