Sadiq Khan is taking the opportunity to speak about Brexit yet again in a speech tonight. The London mayor has for a second time commissioned (with taxpayer funds) a fresh report on the “cost of Brexit to the UK’s economy” from Brexit-bashing firm Cambridge Econometrics. The so-called “independent” analysis paints a sorry picture with the price tag of Brexit at £140 billion. The pessimism is hardly a surprise seeing as the firm has a Khan-loving CEO who publicly praised his “prudence”, and counted Corbynista mouthpiece Richard Murphy as one of its directors. No surprise that Khan’s a repeat customer…

Khan is obviously jumping on the “findings” to claim the UK  “urgently needs to build a closer relationship with the EU”. As free market economist Julian Jessop points out, the report is modelling a UK that voted Remain and immediately concludes that GDP is 6% smaller than it would have been had we stayed. It claims any difference in actual UK GDP from an invented trend of a Remain-voting UK is the fault of Brexit and of course national factors like Covid-19 are ignored. Real-life data shows the UK is actually performing well in comparison to the Eurozone. Not like that will stop Sadiq spouting the same old hot air…

UPDATE: The report cost the taxpayer £55,000.