Brexit weekly briefing: Is no deal for Britain really better than a bad deal?

As the Centre for European Reform (CER) argued last week, it would also mean: UK pharmaceutical and chemical companies losing EU product approval across the continent; UK-based airlines seeing flights to EU member-states grounded; and City financial firms losing their passporting rights. The economic consequence of this kind of train-crash, no-deal Brexit – potentially far more damaging than a negotiated transition even to trading on World Trade Organisation terms – could be a fall in GDP of as much as 5.5%.

The CER said: "British exports of goods and services would shrink very sharply … provoking a sharp fall in the value of sterling. Inflation would rise as the weakening of sterling and the imposition of tariffs boosted the prices of goods, in turn eroding disposable incomes and consumption. The result would be a deep recession.” So why would the prime minister continue to argue that “no deal is better for Britain than a bad deal”?