British households are already £900 worse off because of Brexit, the governor of the Bank of England has claimed.
Mark Carney said on Tuesday that UK growth was perhaps as much as 2% lower than the bank had expected it to be as a result of the decision to leave the EU.
He told the treasury committee: “If you map it onto household incomes, real household incomes are about £900 lower than we forecast - which is a lot of money.”
Asked in the Commons about Carney’s comments, Philip Hammond said the impact on the economy of Brexit “will depend on in part on the quality of the deal we negotiate as we exit the EU”.
The chancellor told MPs: “We are focused on getting the very best deal.”
Hammond said the government would publish an assessment once parliament was asked to vote on the deal.
Wes Streeting MP, a Labour member of the Treasury Committee and leading supporter of the People’s Vote campaign, which wants another referendum, said Carney was right to warn Brexit had left voters worse off.
“The government’s botched Brexit negotiations threaten to make the situation even worse for generations to come,” he said.
Carney’s intervention came as Boris Johnson told Conservative MPs to rein in talk of another snap election.
Speculation over a possible election has been fuelled by discord within Theresa May’s cabinet over the precise shape of the Brexit deal.
But the foreign secretary warned that voters could punish any party which forced them back to the polling stations again after the snap election in 2017, EU referendum in 2016 and general election in 2015.
“I think the British public deserve a break from politicians. And my thoughts are very much with that wonderful woman Brenda,” he said. “I’m with Brenda on this one.”
Brenda, from Bristol, last year responded to May’s decision to call an election by telling a TV reporter: “You’re joking, not another one. Oh for God’s sake, honestly, I can’t stand this. There’s too much politics going on at the moment.”