Brexit has been an expensive decision – and may yet prove even more costly

It can be argued that from 2020 onward it’s hard to unpick the impact of Brexit versus Covid-19. But there was a price over the spectre of a no-deal Brexit, even if it never came to pass, writes Anna Isaac

The costs of Brexit may be ‘most profound in regions in the north and Midlands’, the report finds (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Even before the post-Brexit trade deal’s ink was dry, the UK economy took a hit from the public’s decision to leave the European Union, new analysis from UK in a Changing Europe has found.

It is no surprise to business leaders, according to its author Professor David Bailey, an economist at Birmingham University, whose research shows Brexit has meant higher import costs for businesses, a burden they’ve been forced to share with consumers.

This – plus another study published on Tuesday – have started to put Brexit’s role in the cost of living crisis into the spotlight. It is very difficult to determine what’s due to the pandemic’s wrecking ball effect on global supply chains and what’s due to fresh trade barriers with the EU.