Brexiteers have long argued that leaving the European Union, with or without a trade deal, would herald Britain’s so-called sunlit uplands of economic prosperity.
But the outlook remains uncertain, as the economy struggles to recover from a recession sparked by the coronavirus outbreak.
Despite eye-wateringly costly emergency state interventions, including the subsidy of private-sector wages, a bounce back does not look to be on the cards for months, if not years.
Britain will nevertheless embark upon life outside its main trading partner on January 1, 2021, leaving the EU single market and customs union that benefitted “UK plc” for decades.
The nation officially left the EU in January but is currently locked in a Brexit transition period that means the bloc’s rules still apply until December 31.
Many analysts predict Brexit will unleash even more painful economic damage, delivering another hammer blow just as the Covid-19 fallout begins to ease with the advent of vaccines.
Just how much harm it will do hinges on the outcome of fractious trade talks between Brussels and the government of Britain’s pro-Brexit Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which have gone down to the wire.
