The cost of Brexit is now plain to see. Some may be willing to stomach it, but everyone should have a Final Say

Editorial: A general election will do many things, but it cannot answer the question of Europe, and may well return another hung parliament

If Brexit is a price worth paying for the (mostly illusory) benefits of “taking back control”, then it is important to know exactly what that price is.

The latest estimate is that it has cost, over a three-year period, some 2.9 per cent of GDP. Less abstractly, that means about £69bn less in output of goods and services than would have been the case had we voted to remain in the European Union. It amounts, rather neatly, to about £1,000 for every man, woman and child in the British population – even before Brexit has actually happened (if it ever happens).

The longer-term loss will pile up over the years and decades until the much-vaunted trade deals with America, China, India and others start to make up for the loss of sales in Europe.