Jacob Rees-Mogg has launched a ferocious attack on the Treasury after a leaked report indicated a £66bn annual cost from quitting the Single Market
Treasury Select Committee member Jacob Rees-Mogg has accused civil servants of conspiring to undermine Theresa May's government after a leaked report estimated an annual bill of £66bn if the UK quits the Single Market.
The figures, published by The Times this morning, come from a report by the Department for International Trade and the Department for Exiting the European Union which cites previous Treasury analysis arguing a so-called “Hard Brexit” could demolish tax revenues and cause a hit to GDP of 9.5 per cent.
And now Rees-Mogg has pointed the finger of blame at Treasury mandarins, saying that the leak represents an attempt to undermine the government.
Speaking to City A.M., he said: “The Treasury seem to be unaware that there is a change of government and they are still producing the George Osborne pain stuff.
“They ought to be loyally supporting the new government, rather than running an independent operation.”
Read More: Rees-Mogg on the PM, the EU and gruel
Government sources note that the figures come from an analysis conducted under George Osborne on the long-term cost of a Leave vote in the summer, which concluded that UK households could lose out by up to £4,300 a year by 2030, rather than being a new piece of work conducted by mandarins.
However, Rees-Mogg stressed the sums should have been dispatched to the “scrap yard” following the referendum.
“These figures assume that we imposed tariffs on goods coming in from the EU when we leave, which is bonkers. That would be an arbitrary decision by the government to punish the British people, and someone has packaged those numbers to leak them,” Rees-Mogg said.
A Treasury spokeswoman said: “We want the best outcome for Britain. That means pursuing a bespoke arrangement which gives British companies the maximum freedom to trade with and operate in the single market, and enables us to decide for ourselves how we control immigration.”