On Friday, Prime Minister Theresa May wrote to European Council President Donald Tusk asking for a second delay to Brexit, until June 30. Brexit was initially meant to begin on March 29, but a short extension was granted, which is due to expire on April 12, and there is no clear plan for a way forward. After the letter was released, it was reported that Mr Tusk was considering an even longer, 12-month delay to the process to allow time for a sufficient dealt make its through the EU and UK.
The UK voted to leave the EU on June 23, 2016, marking the start of one of the most tumultuous times in EU history since the end of World War 2.
Inevitably, the process of withdrawing from a decades-long, multinational treaty would take its toll on economic growth in an immediate and longer-term sense.
Loss of investment from businesses and a decreased GDP hit the UK, as well as stalling economic growth and devaluing of the Pound.
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But while the economy would have the opportunity to bounce back if certainty returned to the political climate and therefore the markets, the Brexit impasse shows no signs of evening out any time soon.
So how much has this cost?
According to the experts at The Omni Calculator Project, a startup specialising in taking complex data and simplifying it for the public, at the time of writing, Brexit had cost £116,060,578,792.
That’s more than £100 billon.
This statistic is based on a report from the Bank of England which said the UK has lost £800million per week since the referendum.
Jack Bowater, The Omni Calculator’s Project Manager, told Express.co.uk: “Uncertainty is bad for business.
“Why would you order goods from a country that might not arrive, or for you to pay extra in tariffs before they get to you?
“This is what’s currently happening to the UK and its economy, with a Bank of England economist estimating that this is costing the country, and its people, £800 million a week.
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“The longer Parliament sits around doing nothing, the more ‘meaningful votes’ they fail to pass, the longer Brexit is delayed, the more the British people suffer.”
According to the study, this could have funded 1,290 hospitals, provided 14 billion meals for children, or hired two million police officers.
If the UK was to leave on June 30, as the Prime Minister has requested, this would add an extra 12 weeks to the Brexit process.
Multiply that by £800million, and we’re looking at another £96billion pounds added to the cost.
