Theresa May is rumoured to be on the verge of offering a customs union style deal with Labour which would keep us tied to the bloc for years to come.
The research, commissioned by pro-Remainers the People’s Vote campaign, which want to stop Brexit altogether, says trade still wouldn’t be as easy as it is now.
The economic burden of barriers between the EU and UK would mean businesses could take a hit.
Boffins predicted that the UK would see its economy shrink by around 3.1 per cent more than it would be had we stayed in the EU.
Staying in a customs union would include “significant non tariff barriers that would hinder trade, particularly in services”, the report concluded.
Rachel Reeves MP said today: “It is a mistake to regard this as a soft option – left alone fix-all for a political crisis that has its roots in promises that can’t be met, real costs that have been ignored.”
And Garry Young, Director of Macromodelling and Forecasting for NIESR added: “Leaving the EU for a customs union will make it more costly for the UK to trade with a large market on our doorstep, particularly in services which make up 80 per cent of our economy.”
And today polling showed that a customs union deal would see voters from both the Tories and Labour abandon the party.
Opinium research said that three in four voters said such an agreement would not honour the result of the 2016 referendum.
And two thirds of people said they would feel disappointed, angry or anxious about such a deal.
