With Brexit now only a matter of months away, and nothing agreed, either with the EU or within the British cabinet, the martyrdom of our business to the cause of an ideologically driven Brexit appears as real a possibility as ever. It seems that there are some in Government, and millions across the country hell-bent on Brexit at any cost; a cost which I fear they can neither fathom nor understand. Recent studies which showed most Brexit voters would rather a hard-border in Ireland than remaining in the customs union are the epitome of the Brexit farce, and the inability of so many to realise the effects of such actions. They would have us create the biggest security hole anywhere in the world at a time when international terrorism is highly dangerous: and if ever radicals in Ireland needed fuel for action then this would be it…
But as the title suggests, the sinking of our economy seems to be the last concern to most in Government, with no positive noises and even less progressive action. Lets just take a second to review what business has been saying in the past week.
Jaguar Land Rover, which employs near 40’000 people in the UK as of yesterday questions the logic of a hard Brexit, calculating that it would lose in the region of £1.2bn per year to trade tariffs; the inevitable result of a destructive Brexit. The company even questioned whether remaining in the UK would be profitable should this eventuality occur? Similarly, Airbus which employs around 11’000 people in the UK has raised concerns about Brexit and the risk it may be forced to withdraw funding should a poor or no deal be the result of thus far fruitless negotiations. In this instance however, Jeremy Hunt, who clearly knows a lot about running a large organisation, which must be why the NHS is doing so well at the moment (in his mind at least, if not to the rest of the population), declared Airbus’s concerns “completely inappropriate”… as if he expects everyone to just say nothing and wait for the end. Funny really, it was okay for businesses who backed Brexit to speak, and its okay for those still brave or stupid enough to invest in Britain to do likewise, but anyone who fears the real and present dangers of this calamity must be silent: how’s that for democracy?!
And lets not forget the comments recently from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). They have warned that the current Brexit process is “death by a thousand cuts” for an industry which relies on frictionless trade. Recent figures show that investment from companies represented within the SMMT has been halved from the first half of 2017.
The director of the CBI summed up the current situation best, when she said “facts ignored today mean jobs lost tomorrow”. Worryingly, we live in a world where facts are just what politicians say they are, when the people chose to believe them. No longer are experts, business and those with years of experience listened to, but cast off as “traitors” to the cause. What we need, as Stephen Martin argued, is “less antagonism and more pragmatism”: we should be so lucky. As long as it suits individuals like Boris to sabotage the governments position on Brexit, we will continue down the slippery slope to disaster.
For me, much of the government’s position can be summed up in one short phrase: “F*** business” in the words of our eloquent Boris… which is ironically what he and the government will end up doing if they don’t get their act together pretty damn quick! The complacency is galling, as is the complete disregard ministers seem to have for the thousands of workers and their families whose futures are threatened by their ideological squabbles.
So many in this country are so eager to sacrifice their children’s futures, the economy and business to the blood stained alter of Moloch. It genuinely terrifies me. But then, every country ends up with the government it deserves, and I truly believe that we have just that, populated by pompous self-opinionated toffs who think they know more about business that business.
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