Low-Earning Families To Be Hit Hardest By Brexit
New post-Brexit analysis by the Resolution Foundation has found that the low-earning, just-managing, families Theresa May has pledged to support will be thousands of pounds a year worse off by 2020 due to rising inflation, lower wage growth and social security cuts.
The foundation calculates that a single parent with one child under the age of four, working full-time on the minimum wage, would be £3,800 worse off, whilst a couple with two children under four, who are both employed (one full-time at £10.50 an hour and the other for 20 hours a week at the living wage) will be £2,000 worse off.
The findings add to pressure on the UK Government to reverse planned cuts to the universal credit programme.
Meanwhile, Universities Scotland and Research Councils UK have submitted written evidence to the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee outlining concerns about the impact of Brexit on Scotland’s universities.
It is feared that skilled academics will leave if uncertainty over the future of EU nationals in the UK is not clarified soon, and Brexit also poses a threat to the research sector, says the dossier. Disciplines such as IT, law, archaeology and the classics are considered most at threat from EU funding losses.
French finance minister Michel Sapin has made it clear that London cannot still be the EU’s banking hub after the UK leaves the bloc. On 28 October he said:
“The first marketplace for euro-exchanges is London. Almost all the important chambers are in London. Is this a sustainable position after Brexit? I don’t believe so."
Patricia Gibson commented:
"Whether one is a low paid worker, an academic or someone employed in the financial sector, it is clear that post-Brexit you will be hit hard by the UK's decision to leave the European Union.
"It is time for Theresa May's Government to negotiate seriously with the SNP Government in good faith, recognising and respecting the democratic will of the Scottish people to stay in the EU.
"Scotland did not vote Leave and so it is incumbent upon the UK Government to ensure the adverse impact on Scotland is minimised."
