Hold Tories to account over vast economic failure of Brexit: Yorkshire Post Letters

It is now three years since the trade deal to leave the EU was ratified and therefore an apt time to take stock.

Just over four years ago the Government announced figures in the House of Commons on the likely long-term effect of various scenarios of leaving the EU. They suggested that in 2035-36 the UK's GDP would reduce by 4.9 per cent with a free trade deal, like the one Boris Johnson's Government negotiated, and a further 1.8 per cent with the loss of free movement of workers from the EU.

Those Tory MPs who were sceptical of Johnson's negotiations had the whip summarily removed meaning they couldn't stand at the 2019 election.

Of course, there were other Conservative MPs who knew Boris Johnson was not fit to be Prime Minister and knew that his Hard Brexit would damage the economy, but in supporting him they chose to be the back-bench sheep, caring first for their own jobs, second for the Party and, only finally, for the country.

The effect of Johnson's Hard Brexit has been worse than predicted.

We know that the loss of free movement has severely damaged the farming and food sector, resulting in the culling of over 30,000 pigs, and crops being left to rot in the fields. The hospitality and care sectors have equally suffered.

The Nuffield Trust independent thinktank has suggested there are over 4,200 fewer EU/European Free Trade Area (EFTA) doctors in the NHS due to Brexit.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council suggests there are 58,000 fewer EU/EFTA nurses.

A damning recent survey by the British Chamber of Commerce showed 77 per cent of firms believe the trade deal has reduced their ability to expand, with 56 per cent citing problems in compliance with new export rules.The independent Centre for European Reform has recently published research showing that by the middle of 2022 the UK's GDP had already reduced by 5.5 per cent due to Brexit. This equates to a loss of £40bn in tax revenue - equivalent to the whole defence budget. A 5.5 per cent loss of tax means that public services are reduced by one eighteenth, meaning one in 18 operations in the NHS is never done, one in 18 teachers is lost, one in 18 home helps never visits the elderly.

A study by the London School of Economics has shown that Brexit has caused an extra of nearly £6bn to UK food bills in the two years up to the end of 2021, due to non-tariff barriers, This is the equivalent of adding £210 to food costs for the average family. Inevitably, the poorest have suffered most.

Three years ago, Boris Johnson falsely claimed there would be 'no non-tariff barriers to trade'. He described the trade deal with the EU as 'the biggest trade deal yet, worth £660bn'.

He described it as 'a deal which will, if anything should, allow our companies and our exporters to do even more business with our European friends'.

We should not forgive the lies which have been told. We should not forgive the Conservative Party which caused this to happen. They must be held to account for the damage they have done to this country.