- According to new research, red tape resulting from Brexit has caused each household to pay an extra £250 for food bills alone since the UK left the EU. The study further suggests that food price increases would have been nearly a third lower, at 17%, without Brexit, compared to the actual rise of almost 25%. Official figures reveal that annual food price inflation in the UK is near historic highs; some basic goods have increased by up to 46% in just one year, exacerbating the cost-of-living crisis. The overall extra cost of Brexit red tape to households in the UK is £6.95bn, according to the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics, who have analyzed the effect of trade barriers on food prices. Non-tariff barriers in force since Brexit include customs checks, rules-of-origin requirements and health paperwork for animals and plants. Between January last year and March this year, the research found that the price of food products that were more exposed to Brexit, as the UK imported them in high volumes from the EU before the referendum, increased by about 3.5 percentage points more than those that were not. The report authors blame these changes entirely on products with high non-tariff barriers. The study claims that prices on products such as meat and cheese, which are imported from the EU, have increased by about 10 percentage points more than similar products not exposed to Brexit since January 2021, when the trade and cooperation agreement began. The price rises of products more exposed to Brexit are not linked to other factors such as Covid lockdowns or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “The fact that the results are driven entirely by products with high non-tariff barriers imported from the EU offers strong evidence that Brexit is the driving force behind these effects,” the researchers say. EU supporters argue food inflation will become even worse when the government introduces new border checks in October. New checks will mean health certification on imports from the EU of medium-risk animal products, plants, plant products, and high-risk food and feed of non-animal origin. The Centre for European Reform found that Brexit has cost the UK £33bn in lost trade and investment, arguing that the economic damage is worse than previously thought.
Politics
The Financial Impact of Brexit on British Households: A Closer Look at the Cost of Leaving the EU
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