Is Brexit really costing households £1,000 each?

They never give up, those Remainers. Like the Japanese soldier found on a Pacific island still fighting the second world war – in 1974, every other day there is another loose shot from the undergrowth. After last week’s Ditchley Park gathering involving Lord Mandelson, David Lammy and others, comes an interview in the Overshoot with Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Jonathan Haskel. In it, Haskel makes the claim that Brexit is costing each British household £1,000 a year through lost trade and investment.

Let’s start with the assertion that this is a loss per household. In any other context, of course, many of the same people who are promoting the £1,000 per household figure today would argue that the trickle-down effect is a mirage: that wealth stays in the hands of a lucky few.