London Mayor Khan warns of ‘immense’ Brexit damage to city

LONDON – London Mayor Sadiq Khan will warn of the “immense damage” Brexit is doing to the capital’s city financial district, and accuse the government of ignoring the wider impacts on Britain.

In a keynote speech to city leaders on Thursday evening, Mr Khan will say it is wrong to “pretend” that the UK’s exit from the European Union is not causing harm, according to a statement from his office.

“The reality is that the City of London is being hit hard by the loss of trade and talent to our competitors because of Brexit,” he will say. “London cannot afford to fall behind any of our international competitors.”

Mr Khan’s comments follow polling showing many of those who voted for Brexit in the 2016 referendum are having second thoughts.

A YouGov survey last week found that a quarter of those Leave voters who regret their decision blame a general sense that things have got worse since Brexit. YouGov polling in November found that the wider public now think Britain was wrong to leave the EU, by 56 per cent to 32 per cent.

Mr Khan, who campaigned for Remain and has long been vocal about the negative consequences of leaving the EU, will say he “simply can’t keep quiet about the immense damage Brexit is doing”, according to a draft of his speech briefed by his office.

“Ministers seem to have developed selective amnesia when it comes to one of the root causes of our problems,” he will say. “Brexit can’t be airbrushed out of history or the consequences wished away.”

Brexit has

reduced Britain’s GDP by 5.5 per cent,

cut investment by 11 per cent and slashed goods and services trade by 7 per cent, Mr Khan said.

Britons are also paying an extra £6 billion (S$9.7 billion) to eat because of Brexit, he said, equivalent to £210 (S$340) added to the average household supermarket bill over a two-year period.

Mr Khan’s words could also be seen as a veiled criticism of Labour leader Keir Starmer who has dismissed calls to rejoin the EU’s single market, and embraced the language of Brexit with the promise of a “Take Back Control Bill” to hand more powers to communities. BLOOMBERG