BREXIT's impact on the UK economy will be worse than that caused by the pandemic, according to the chairman of the UK fiscal watchdog.

Richard Hughes said the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had assumed leaving the EU would “reduce our long run GDP by around 4%”, adding in comments to the BBC: “We think that the effect of the pandemic will reduce that (GDP) output by a further 2%.”

“In the long term it is the case that Brexit has a bigger impact than the pandemic”, Hughes told the BBC hours after the OBR responded to Rishi Sunak’s latest Budget by saying it expected inflation to reach 4.4%, while warning it could hit “the highest rate seen in the UK for three decades”.

Responding to the research, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford tweeted: "This is the reality of Boris Johnson’s disastrous hard Brexit.

"Scotland has lost £billions, UK exports have plunged, families and businesses face rising costs. The EU is giving Ireland €1.05bn to mitigate Brexit. Scotland hasn’t had a penny of compensation from Westminster."

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In response, SNP deputy Westminster leader Kirsten Oswald called it a "dereliction of duty" for the Chancellor not to announce Brexit mitigation measures in his Budget.

"The grim reality is that the Tory government's extreme Brexit deal has compounded the pressure that households were already under after a decade of damaging Tory austerity cuts, regressive tax hikes and stagnant wages.

"It has played a major role in the severe staffing shortages, empty supermarket shelves, and the rising cost of goods and services we are experiencing across Scotland and the UK.

"Rather than using the Budget to deliver the support desperately needed to tackle the devastating impact Brexit is having on households, the economy, and businesses, the Chancellor shamefully buried his head in the sand."

Oswald pointed out that the EU has a Brexit mitigation fund for member states and gave Ireland £1.05 billion, while the UK Government is "sitting on its hands".



"It's increasingly clear that Scotland is vulnerable under Westminster control," she said. "The only way to keep Scotland safe from the long-term damage of Tory Brexit is to become an independent country."

Meanwhile, a new poll found a majority of people in Northern Ireland now view the Brexit protocol governing Irish Sea trade as a positive for the region.

The latest survey of public opinion conducted for Queen’s University, Belfast found that 52% of respondents consider the Northern Ireland Protocol to be a "good thing" on balance.

That figure has increased from 43% who responded to the same question in June.

The poll is the latest commissioned by Queen’s to monitor attitudes in Northern Ireland towards Brexit and, particularly, the trade arrangements that have created economic barriers between the region and Great Britain.

The online survey conducted by LucidTalk at the start of October was the third such poll undertaken since the protocol came into effect at the start of the year.

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Principal investigator with the Queen’s project, Professor David Phinnemore, said: “Majority opinion in Northern Ireland appears to be becoming more accepting and indeed more supportive of the protocol, although many voters remain concerned about the impact Brexit and the protocol are having on Northern Ireland.

“Immediate priority concerns relate to the future availability of medicines and increased paperwork for and restrictions on bringing goods into Northern Ireland from Great Britain.

“The UK Government sees removal of the Court of Justice from the protocol as an overriding priority; the evidence from this poll is that this is not a priority concern of voters in Northern Ireland.

“What matters more are practical issues and addressing the political instability resulting from Brexit and responses to the protocol.”