Post-Brexit Britain is splurging more on state aid

ADVOCATES of BrexitEUGDPEUEU straddled two contrasting visions of the British economy. Figures on the Thatcherite right imagined a smaller state of low taxes and lower subsidies. The Eurosceptic left hoped that junking the ’s state-aid rulebook would allow the government to back favoured industries. Things are not going the Thatcherites’ way.Brexit has coincided with a dramatic rise in the use of government aid to businesses, according to a new analysis commissioned by from Shearman & Sterling, a law firm. In 2015 British government aid amounted to 0.35% of , compared with an -wide average of 0.67%. That surged to 2.71% in Britain and 2.39% in the in 2020, as covid-19 prompted bail-outs of stricken firms.