Brexit 'truth' bus visits Leeds as Lord claims 'we can and will stop it'

Local MPs and MEPs turned out to deliver speeches as the bus pulled up in Leeds city centre this afternoon.

The Brexit 'Truth Bus', from the Is It Worth It Campaign is emblazoned with the slogan 'Brexit will cost £2,000 million, says government's own report'

Leeds Council tax rise: What are you actually paying for?Yorkshire's Labour Member of the European Parliament Richard Corbett told a crowd which had gathered to welcome the bus: "Even this Brexit-obsessed government's figures say this is going to be a costly, damaging exercise".

The campaign behind the bus states: "Today we'll be touring the North West and Yorkshire. The Brexit Department's own figures show that, even 15 years in the future, the regions' economies won't yet have recovered from the economic shock of Brexit: an 8% and 5% shortfall in GDP respectively. Is it worth it?"

Yorkshire's Brexit resistance: Why campaigners in Leeds and Sheffield think Brexit can be stoppedLord Newby, Leader of the Lib Dems in the House of Lords, told the crowds 'we can and will stop Brexit!"

On Sunday, the bus is heading to York Racecourse.

Earlier this week, the leader of Leeds City Council met with the chief EU Brexit negotiator in Brussels as part of a delegation of UK cities.

Coun Judith Blake held discussions with Michel Barnier in the Belgian capital in her role as the chairwoman of the Core Cities group.

Civic leaders attended the European Commission headquarters with the EUROCITIES network, meaning roughly 200 urban centres were represented at the meeting.

Politicians talked about how the shared interests of their cities, communities and businesses can be best met in the lead up to and after Brexit.

Coun Blake said: “We were really going with a real sense of frustration and concern that despite our own attempts to meet with the UK Government negotiators, they haven’t set meetings with us.”

She added: “The real concern is around trade."