Secret papers which assess the economic impact of crashing out of the EU have been made public, showing the North-East will sustain the biggest hit of any part of the UK.

The economy of the North-East will shrink by 11 per cent even if there is a comprehensive trade deal, the Government’s analysis shows, and if we quit the EU without a deal then GDP in the North East will be hit by 16 per cent.

Paul Brannen, North East MEP, said: “A 16 per cent reduction in the GDP of the North-East translates into thousands of job losses. This is frankly a nightmare scenario for our region and for the government to be aware of this and still be willing to consider a no deal Brexit is absolute madness. At the very least the UK needs to stay in the Single Market and the Customs Union.”

London will take the least damage, according to the forecasts which ministers were forced to release after they were leaked to the media and amid pressure from Labour and pro-EU Tories.

Jude Kirton-Darling, MEP for the North East of England, said: “As disquieting as this may be, it is unfortunately only the beginning of a string of awful news to come out of the leaked impact assessment papers, and the direct result of the Tories being incapable of negotiating a Brexit deal that won’t drain all money and economic prospects out of the North-East.

“Our region is not prepared to take this hit, especially in the context of ceasing to be the beneficiary of vital EU funding that has helped North East economy for many years. My constituents did not vote for a future outside of the EU that will see them unbelievably worse off.”

The Brexit impact document was meant to be shown confidentially to cabinet ministers but the Commons Speaker, John Bercow, ordered its release to MPs last week after Labour won a Commons vote on the issue. MPs are now able to view the documents in a confidential reading room.
MPs who have seen the documents said they showed every region of the UK would be affected negatively whatever the deal.

The analysis shows Brexit would mean the North-East economy will shrink by 3 per cent even if the UK remained a member of the single market. This scenario appears highly unlikely, as both Labour and the Conservative Government insist that Brexit must involve leaving the single market.

Prime Minister Theresa May will chair a key Brexit meeting with senior ministers as the Government attempts to clarify its position.
The Brexit cabinet committee is to discuss what the future relationship between the UK and EU might look like. 

Earlier, Brussels released papers showing it wants to put in place a method to rapidly curtail the UK's single market benefits if it breaches agreements on a transition deal.

But the Prime Minister insisted she would be "robust" in Brexit talks and dismissed "noises off" from the EU.

Asked during Prime Minister's Questions if she would see off any "threats" from the EU, Mrs May said: "We will be robust in our arguments.

"As I have said right from the very beginning we will hear noises off, we will hear all sorts of things being said about positions that are being taken.

"What matters is the positions we take in the negotiations as we sit down and negotiate the best deal. We've shown we can do that. We did it in December and we are going to do it again."