Stanford economist Professor Nick Bloom has argued that the economic damage caused by Brexit is so large that recovering it could effectively eliminate NHS waiting lists and transform the health service. Speaking exclusively to The Independent as part of its "Europe: The Way Back" campaign, he said the claim that leaving the EU would free up £350m a week for the NHS, as promised on the Leave campaign's battle bus, was "exactly and perfectly wrong" — in reality, Brexit has cost the economy far more than it saved.

Bloom's research suggests Brexit has shrunk UK GDP by 6 to 8 per cent, equivalent to roughly £3,000 per person per year, with losses split evenly between reduced trade with the EU and years of political uncertainty during the negotiation process. He said recouping this sum, close to the pre-pandemic health budget share of GDP, could raise NHS funding by around two-thirds, funding better pay, equipment and refurbished hospitals. Bloom praised the government's efforts to rebuild ties with Brussels but warned that Nigel Farage remains a "spectre" threatening any rapprochement, while former Conservative health secretary Stephen Dorrell branded the original Brexit funding pledge "fundamentally dishonest on a Trumpian scale".