Now is the time to reject austerity | Frances Ryan

In pushing for Brexit, the powerful have exploited marginalised people's fears and needs. The left must help them to take back control

David Cameron may soon be unemployed but, as the fallout of Britain's EU exit begins, we can be assured it will not be the Eton class who will feel the burden.

Last month, tax and spending thinktank the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned that leaving the European Union would force ministers to extend austerity measures by up to two years. It was clear: exit the EU now and by 2020, the impact of lower GDP growth and extra borrowing costs would make a 20bn-40bn chasm in the public purse. This morning we were told the pound had immediately plummeted to a 31-year low amid the prospects of recession. In the first few minutes of trading, the FTSE 100 took its biggest fall since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. This can no longer be downplayed as fear. It is fact. As my colleague Owen Jones wrote: "Economic turmoil beckons: the debate is how significant and protracted it will be."

Related: David Cameron resigns after UK votes to leave European Union

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