Britain’s May faces Brexit warnings at Davos summit
DAVOS: Britain’s exit from the European Union will come at a steep price, politicians and bankers warned at the World Economic Forum on Thursday as Premier Theresa May sought to woo investors.
“The economic growth rate of the UK will be impacted negatively by the fact that they will leave the biggest market in the world,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte warned at the annual meeting of country leaders and business chiefs in the Swiss town of Davos.
“The UK is now making a choice to control migration, and they are paying a huge price,” he said in a debate about the future of the European Union with EU VicePresident Frans Timmermans.
The proponents of Brexit argued during their campaign that a divorce from the EU would stem the inflow of migrants and free Britain from the 28-member bloc’s bureaucracy.
Timmermans acknowledged that too many people in the EU feel that they are left behind by economic development and that Brussels is “out there to make your life difficult.”
May said her country would emerge as the global champion of free trade after leaving the EU.
“Britain is and will always be open for business,” May told her Davos audience, who met her speech with polite but unenthusiastic applause.
“I am determined to stand up for free markets, free trade and globalisation, but also to show how these forces can work for everyone,” the conservative premier said. May acknowledged that many voters see corporations negatively. She said that large firms should pay “their fair share of tax”, and that executive salaries and corporate accountability should be betterregulated.
May’s comments on taxing corporations appeared to be at odds with her programmatic speech on Tuesday, when she laid out her plans for a clean break from the EU and its single market.
During that speech, she said that Brexit would give Britain thefreedom to introduce competitive tax rates and other policies that attract foreign firms.