Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the report by Cambridge Econometrics London's Economy After Brexit: Impacts and Implications, published on 11 January, which estimated that economic growth was "2–3 per cent lower in 2023 than had Brexit not occurred ... and is expected to gradually increase to 5–6 per cent by 2035", what steps they are taking to support the resilience and growth of industries affected by any economic challenges that have arisen as a result of the UK's departure from the EU.

The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), which came into force at the beginning of 2021, is the world’s biggest zero-tariff, zero-quota trade deal. It is the first time the EU has ever agreed such access in a Free Trade Agreement.

The Government has implemented a number of measures to support businesses trading with the EU, and with the rest of the world. This includes through an ambitious programme of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, further support to SMEs and the intermediary sector, and direct financial support to businesses.

More broadly, this government remains focussed on the biggest opportunities to drive growth and productivity. At Autumn Statement, the government built on its comprehensive £7 billion employment package from Spring Budget 2023 by announcing a new £2.5 billion Back to Work Plan. This means that the combined impacts of the Spring and Autumn policy measures will increase the number of people in employment by around 200,000 by the end of the forecast, permanently increasing the size of the economy. In addition, the government announced an ambitious package which could boost business investment by around £20 billion per year in a decade's time. This includes making full expensing permanent - a tax cut to companies of over £10bn a year; providing £4.5bn of funding for the UK’s strategic manufacturing sectors; and reforming our inefficient planning system.