Food prices rose by an extra eight per cent because of Brexit, according to SNP-commissioned analysis.
The House of Commons library research showed that UK food prices rose by 25 per cent between December 2019 and March 2023. It estimated that it would have only increased by 17 per cent if Brexit had not happened.
The analysis comes on the fifth anniversary of the UK leaving the European Union.
SNP Europe spokesperson Stephen Gethins said: “For five years, Westminster’s deliberate and damaging denial of Brexit has hit people in the pocket, hurt our businesses and harmed our relationship with our nearest neighbours. It was political and economic madness five years ago – and its damage is deepening by the day. It was a decision Scotland never voted for, but we have been left paying the price.
“Sir Keir Starmer has spent an awful lot of time talking about a reset with our EU partners, but the reality is that the only reset which will work is to – at the very least – rejoin the EU single market and the customs union.
“Instead of sticking their heads firmly in the sand for the next five years, it’s time for Labour to recognise that this is the only route to recovery and the only economic escape from broken Brexit Britain. Five years on, it’s time to end the isolationism and return to the European fold.”
The SNP’s analysis also suggested Brexit had hit the UK’s economy in various ways. The research indicated that Brexit has cost every UK citizen £750 a year.
Cumulative GDP growth from 2019 to 2024 is estimated to be almost two per cent lower in the UK compared to the EU. GDP is the value of goods and services in a country and is a means of judging economic growth.
It has hit businesses with UK exports to the EU down by 18 per cent and to non-EU countries by 15 per cent.
There has also be a loss of £16 billion in EU funding since 2020, while there has been a fall in hospitality and agriculture workers, and EU workers in general.
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