Lib Dems announce £50 Billion ‘Remain Bonus’ for public services

Ahead of the party’s General Election launch, the Liberal Democrats have declared a Liberal Democrat government will Stop Brexit and use the £50 Billion Remain Bonus to invest in public services and tackle inequality.    Leader of the Liberal Democrats Jo Swinson said:   “The Liberal Democrats are the only party standing up to stop Brexit and build a brighter future for the UK.   “Brexit has taken far longer and cost far more than anyone said it would. But any form of Brexit will damage our jobs, our economy and our public services, starving them of vital cash as the economy struggles along.   “The Liberal Democrats will stop Brexit and then use the £50bn Remain Bonus to invest in our public services.   “Every vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote to stop Brexit, build a brighter future and invest the £50bn Remain bonus in our vital public services.” (Stopping Brexit will generate a Remain Bonus for the public finances because under Remain, the economy will grow faster than under Brexit, leading to higher GDP and consequently higher public sector current receipts. We forecast that the economy will be 1.9% larger in 2024-25 if we stop Brexit than it would be under the Conservative Government’s Brexit deal. That means government receipts will be higher too, providing a £50 billion Remain Bonus over the next five years. The £50bn figure reflects the total extra current receipts over the next five years. In 2024-25, the Remain Bonus will be worth £18bn. The Liberal Democrat Remain Bonus is based on a conservative forecast of higher growth under Remain - just 0.4% a year higher on average. That is very much in line with -if not more cautious than-  forecasts produced by the Institute for Fiscal Studies in their Green Budget 2019.)