Hard Brexit would cost public finances £80bn, says secret analysis

Leave-voting heartlands of north-east and West Midlands would be worst hit, report finds

A no-deal Brexit would blow an 80bn hole in the public finances, with the leave-voting heartlands of north-east England and West Midlands worst affected, according to new detail from the government's own secret economic analysis.

The Guardian has learned that the secret papers, which assess the economic impact of leaving the bloc, predict that if there is no deal, the government will need to borrow 120bn more over the next 15 years.