£3 billion Brexit fund and be prepared for 'no deal': Budget speech paves way for crashing out of Europe
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Loading... - Lieze Van Riel
- 23 Nov 2020
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Philip Hammond today announced a further £3 billion for Brexit over the next two years as he said the government must be prepared for a 'no deal' scenario.
The chancellor said he had already spent £700 million on preparing for Brexit.
But said that the UK must be "prepared for every possible outcome" as he revealed the new cash in his Budget speech.
And he said that the Tories would commit "further sums if and where needed".
He said the government is committed to "seize" post Brexit opportunities for Britain in a relationship based on "free and frictionless trade in goods".
Mr Hammond said one of the biggest boosts he can give to business is to “make early progress in delivering [May’s] vision, with an implementation plan that allows businesses [to invest with confidence]”.
Liberal Democrat Leader Vince Cable commented: "£3 billion of taxpayers' money is disappearing down a Brexit black hole.
"It tells you everything you need to know about this government's priorities that more funding has been found for Brexit than for our struggling NHS, schools and police.
"Money that could have been invested hiring thousands of teachers and police officers is instead going to pay for a Tory Hard Brexit.
"Meanwhile the government's strategy remains so vague that we still don't know what the final damage to our economy and living standards will be.
"This underlines why the British people must be able to choose at the end of this process whether to accept the final deal or stay in the EU."
This has led the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to revise down growth forecasts.
In March the OBR predicted growth would be at 2.0% in 2017 and it is now predicting just 1.5%.
