[user104658]

This specific decision was made after (and probably in light of) the Brexit vote, and only "refuels speculation" that they were planning to try to get more cash out of the UK if it had been remain. We will never actually know the truth there. It will always be speculation.

I do feel that the EU will be in trouble with one of its cornerstones removed and it may well not last in its current form; Brexit voters will always assume that this was us "getting out just in time", rather than considering the possibility that "getting out" was the catalyst for the whole thing ceasing to work.

We could muse over these things until the cows come home though; we can't try both paths and see both outcomes, we can only continue on the path we're on, and the rest is nothing more than "what ifs" and guesswork.