The Bermondsey and Old Southwark constituency could lose 6,200 jobs in the event of a no-deal Brexit, according to a new study by the UK Trade Policy Observatory.
The study by academics at the University of Sussex ranks the impacts of a no-deal or a soft Brexit on all the parliamentary constituencies in the country and found that Bermondsey and Old Southwark is set to lose thousands of jobs if the UK crashes out without a deal next year.
The statistic makes the constituency in the top ten worst impacted constituencies by a no-deal Brexit according to the analysis.
However, the cities of London and Westminster would be worst affected, said the study’s authors Professor Alan Winters and Ilona Serwicka, with expected job losses of 42,400.
Bermondsey and Old Southwark MP, Neil Coyle, accused the Government of playing a “dangerous” game of Russian roulette with the negotiations and said he had already met people who had lost jobs as a result of Brexit.
Mr Coyle said: “Since the 2016 referendum, I have met several people who have been laid off due to Brexit and many employers who are planning to move jobs, offices and investment to other EU countries.
“This is saddening for our country – and we have not even left yet!
“The survey demonstrates more risks of leaving the EU. Some people think a ‘No Deal’ Brexit means the same as now; it doesn’t, it means leaving the EU with nothing agreed putting thousands more jobs at risk.
“The Government has failed to properly stand up for UK interests and is playing a dangerous game of Russian roulette with people’s livelihoods.”
Harriet Harman’s constituency of Camberwell and Peckham would lose 800 jobs in a no-deal, the research claims, with the borough’s other parliamentary constituency held by Helen Hayes MP, Dulwich and West Norwood, losing 850.
The study also claims that jobs would be lost as a result of a soft Brexit, although fewer than in the event of a ‘no-deal’, with 2,800 going in Mr Coyle’s constituency.
However the academics said their estimates were “conservative” saying Government aggregate estimates of no-deal job losses were approximately twice as large.
72.3 per cent of Southwark voters voted to stay in the EU, and 27.7 per cent voted to leave.
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