LEAKED Government figures have painted a grim picture of post-Brexit life in the North East.

Impact assessments compiled by Treasury officials show that the economy in the North-East could shrink by as much as 16 per cent in the event of a “No Deal” Brexit.

Worse still, the figures show that in any scenario, the North East – which voted 58 per cent for Brexit – will be the hardest hit region in the country.

A comprehensive free trade deal would see the region’s economic growth shrink by 11 per cent, while even remaining in the single market will see a three per cent drop.

The latter option remains unlikely, which both Labour and the Tories claiming that Brexit means leaving the single market.

Ministers had intended to keep the information hidden, but following a leak of some of the information to news website Buzzfeed, political pressure led to MPs being shown the reports.

The assessments were promptly leaked last Wednesday.

North-East MEP for Labour, Paul Brannen, described the situation as a nightmare scenario.

Mr Brannen said: “This is the type of news we always feared Brexit would bring.

“As the poorest English region, the North-East was inevitably going to be more vulnerable to the economic upheaval of leaving the EU.

“To see this figure in black and white however is a real shock.

“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.”

The impact assessments will have many people asking why the information was not available before 2016’s vote, and has led to fresh calls for a second referendum on a final Brexit deal.

However, the likes of Brexiter MP Jacob Rees-Mogg have claimed that Treasury officials have ‘fiddled the figures’ to make remaining in the EU seem like the only option.

The issue of Brexit is always highly divisive, but how has the news gone down in Tynedale?

Director of exports at Hexham based specialist drinks group Fentimans, Piero Alberici, feared for the future of the business, which exports around the world.

Piero said: “The European Union represents our biggest trading block. Leaving the single market presents two challenges to us.

One of those is the customs barrier. At the moment we enjoy the benefits of the customs union.

“Shipping to the EU is like shipping to another part of the UK, but when we ship to somewhere like South America we have to fill in a lot of paperwork.

“Leaving the single market would mean we’d have to do that for the EU market, which would be time consuming and costly.

“We also meet all the EU regulations, and if we were out of the customs union a country could turn around and say that we can’t sell our drinks in their country unless we change the recipe.

“I don’t think we would be looking at job losses, but I think we’d be looking at maintaining the level of profit we’re making now, rather than looking at making more.”

The North-East looks set to be badly affected due to the large amount of manufacturing still present in the region.

In June 2017, the Financial Times revealed that the North-East relied on the EU as a market for it’s services more than anywhere else in the country, making it no real surprise that Brexit’s impact is forecast to hit hardest here.

However, North East MEP, once of UKIP and now independent, Jonathan Arnott has rubbished the figures from the Treasury.

Hexham’s MP Guy Opperman said: “The Government’s challenge, therefore, is to try and recreate, as much as possible, the benefits of the single market, which is so important to many of our industries, from car manufacturing to agriculture

“ I tried to persuade the country to vote Remain, but that was not the outcome. Brexit will cause uncertainty to the country for a while, but there are also many positives, whether it is the increased job numbers, manufacturing, and business investment.

“But given that there was a clear vote, I believe that we need to get behind the PM and make a success of this. You don’t get to pick and choose your democracy.”