Grass could be greener after Brexit, says Andrew

PRINCE Andrew has declared there could be ‘fresh grass’ for businesses outside the EU after Brexit.

The Duke of York called for a ‘glass half- full’ attitude as Britain cuts ties with Brussels and firms look over the ‘garden fence’ for fresh opportunities.

In an extraordinary intervention for a member of the Royal Family, he said: ‘You can look at it two ways. You can either look at it as a glass half-empty, which is: “Oh my God, why have we done this?”

‘Or you could look at it as a glass half-full, which is: “OK, that’s where we are. There are opportunities that we’ve got to make”.

‘You may lose one thing but you may gain something else. The world is your oyster.’ The prince said there was ‘fresh grass’ for businesses outside the EU in the 52 Commonwealth nations, as well as in China and the US.

He told the BBC: ‘We’ve been concentrating on 27 countries, if you take that as an internal market.

‘There’s an external market that’s a lot bigger, and many businesses hadn’t looked over that garden fence to some extent.

‘And in my experience recently, businesses that look over the garden fence have gone: “Hmm, [the] grass is not quite as dark and unforgiving as you might expect”. And actually, getting over the fence, there might be some fresh grass out there.’

He warned of ‘uncertainty and difficulty and upheaval’ over the next few years. But he argued that the UK ‘should be engaging with as many different markets as we possibly can and looking at the best of things rather than necessarily the worst of things’.

Prince Andrew, who was a trade envoy for the UK from 2001 to 2011, made his remarks as he attended a Commonwealth science conference in Singapore. It is highly unusual for members of the Royal Family to comment on contentious political issues. His intervention comes amid a power struggle between Cabinet ministers over whether Theresa May should stick to her pledge to take the UK out of the customs union, which will allow the country to strike its own trade deals.

Chancellor Philip Hammond yesterday called on the Prime Minister to prioritise the economy and jobs in Brexit negotiations, in a clear signal of his desire for a ‘softer’ Brexit that does not focus on controlling immigration.

However, Mrs May and international trade secretary Liam Fox last night appointed a chief trade negotiation adviser in a sign that she plans to push ahead with leaving the customs union.

The role has gone to Crawford Falconer, a New Zealand-UK dual national who was previously her country’s ambassador to the World Trade Organisation.

‘The world is your oyster’