Thinktank warns Britain must stay close to EU or face long-term decline as it suggests a second pollThe Treasury has flatly rejected calls by the west’s leading economic thinktank for a second EU referendum after the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said a second poll would significantly benefit the economy. “We are leaving the EU and there will not be a second referendum,” the Treasury said in a terse statement that reflected the government’s unhappiness with the OECD’s intervention. “In case Brexit gets reversed by political decision (change of majority, new referendum, etc), the positive impact on growth would be significant,” the report said. Gurría insisted that the OECD respected the decision of the referendum and OECD sources sought to play down the “second referendum” call, saying it was merely sketching out alternative scenarios. “In the absence of a free-trade agreement in 2019, switching to World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules would cut UK growth by 1.5 percentage point that year.

Source: The Guardian October 17, 2017 10:50 UTC