How Brexit complicates the post-pandemic recovery

New evidence of labour shortages emerging in the early stages of post-viral growth suggests trouble ahead, writes John Rentoul

Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, headed to the north of England today (Reuters)

As when blood returns to frozen limbs, there is bound to be some stiffness, pain and difficulty; so there is when the economy returns to normal after a shock. Most of the figures suggest that Britain is bouncing back quickly from the coronavirus recession, but there are increasing signs that labour shortages are starting to be a problem.

This is where leaving the EU could complicate the recovery, because – unlike other countries that shut down during the virus – the UK made fundamental changes to its labour market at the same time.

We ceased to allow the free movement of workers between the UK and the EU at the beginning of this year, which means – given that an estimated 1.3 million non-UK workers left the country during the pandemic – the economy cannot simply go back to how it was before.