The real cost of Brexit: Multi-million pound projects face the axe
![A Crossrail drill breaks through into the east end of Liverpool Street station in London. Sir Amyas Morse said the major project would have to be reassessed [Image: Anthony Devlin/PA].](https://voxpoliticalonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/160722-Brexit-endangers-projects.png)
A Crossrail drill breaks through into the east end of Liverpool Street station in London. Sir Amyas Morse said the major project would have to be reassessed [Image: Anthony Devlin/PA].
On top of the increased shrinking of the state that the Tories have already signposted, it seems high-profile public projects will be abandoned due to a lack of funds, leaving the country less competitive in the world markets.
If you know anybody who voted ‘Leave’, and you hear them complaining about these failures in the future, please remind them it’s what they wanted.
Billions of pounds’ worth of public projects will have to be scrapped by Theresa May because of a “tidal wave” of pressures from an impending Brexit, the head of Whitehall’s official spending watchdog has said.
The comptroller and auditor general of the National Audit Office, Sir Amyas Morse, said the government would have to treat leaving the EU as an “emergency” and that government departments would be forced to decide which plans could be cancelled or suspended.
Major projects such as the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, a third runway at Heathrow and the ambitious HS2 rail project would have to be reassessed as the government decides which can be done without, he told the Guardian.
Others which will be re-examined include the £7bn refurbishment of the Palace of Westminster, the London commuter line Crossrail 2 and former chancellor George Osborne’s northern powerhouse strategy.
ADVERT
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
Anyone who thinks ‘Britain is booming after Brexit’ is off their trolley; Brexit hasn’t even started yet.
Horrendous, just absolutely horrendous. All because a few right-wing nutcases can’t work closely and in co-operation with friendly nations, and a million or so people believed their blatant lies and distortions of the facts.
Horrendous just horrendous how the people who mainly voted out were left wing labour supporters and the nut cases try to pretend it was right wingers. The reason most people voted leave was because of the lies propaganda and misdirection project fear remain campaign.
Oh dear. 63 per cent of Labour members and supporters voted ‘Remain’.
Many of those who voted ‘Leave’ seem to have done so in the mistaken belief that they were delivering a ‘kicking’ to the powers-that-be, and have learned their mistake since.
The lies, propaganda and misdirection – as we’ve all learned – seems to have come from the ‘Leave’ campaign.
The time saving by HS2 doesn’t justify the cost so a reassessment could be good.
!0 minutes less form leeds to london well worth the billions they want to waste on it.
There may be damage done to the UK economy as a result of a loss of confidence, but the more real, lasting and significant will be next year and most the years after that.
Now if we had a Corbyn-led Labour government then the correct macroeconomic policy of confronting a probable slow down with increased public spending (until demand readjusts and then an appropriately implemented withdraw of public spending) the consequences of BREXIT could be minimised. As it’s the Tories in power the damage will be maximised through even more cuts.
As for the Telegraph and Daily Mail’s story about Britain, it’s not only not the case, but if it was it would too early to have anything to do with BREXIT. The reason I used the word ‘story’ as opposed to belief is that the time lags inherent with an economy as large as the UK’s requires such a basic knowledge of economics that the ‘journalists’ that write these stories must know what their writing junk and as such, it can not be deemed a belief.
I’d say the vote to leave the EU is being used by the Tories as an excuse, not a reason, for the failure of George Osborne’s fiscal and economic policies. All of these projects were under threat anyway and could have been predicted prior to the referendum. Now because a majority vote enriched by the racist bigots – who probably accounted for that 2% which took us out of the union – the Tories have a grand excuse for their failure to get to grips with the economy. Thanks to all who voted “Leave” – killing two birds with one stone, our economy and Tory accountability.
mrmarcpc, that occurred to me today. It has to be noted the Conservatives are exceptionally good at turning apparent disasters in to opportunities. Mind you having most the British media as a propaganda department does make it easier for them.
The Daily Express has backed the wrong horse as usual, are the readers so thick they read one thing in the morning, only to be totally contradicted on seeing the evening news. I’m surprised the readers are not leaving in droves, even if it’s a true blue editor, he should be sacked, but in this world he’ll probably be promoted.
The major projects mentioned are EU TEN-T projects. HS2 has basically been forced on the country by the EU. That is why all political parties have had to back it. The reason these projects will be mothballed is because of the imminent loss of some funding for them from the EU. I suspect a lot of politicians are breathing a sigh of relief because the funding from the EU for these EU grand schemes is only UP TO 50% of the cost. The HS2 line will only receive about a tenth of the actual final cost, which Cameron was not too pleased about. So not carrying on with these white elephants will save Britain millions. How will stopping these follies make Britain less competitive ?
The eu doesn’t have any money it is only our own money they are giving a proportion of back
I suppose we are in for years of claim and counterclaim that Brexit is working/not working both sides using spurious indicators to prove their point.The provision of EU funding towards HS2, third runway at Heathrow etc is the thing that made these projects marginally affordable. 10% may sound small but when you are speaking about Billions of €/£ finding replacement funding will not be easy. Private sector already contributing so where else to look? Daft Bexiteers ignored the inward flow of EU money in ??their shallow arguments. Now the reality of UK being a world class economy whilst still using oil-fired power stations and victorian era rail networks begins to ring hollow.?
No the wonder both Johnson and especially Farage quit after the referendum, they knew the truth that was coming and didn’t want the crap thrown at them when the people who voted Brexit realised the truth!