Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Brexiteer Dyson puts car plant in ..Singapore
Tycoon blasted for rejecting UK
BREXIT supporter James Dyson was yesterday criticised for choosing to build a new electric car plant in the Far East.
The billionaire tycoon rejected the UK as the site for the hi-tech plant, opting for Singapore instead, where it will create more than 1,000 jobs.
Dyson, famed for its bagless vacuum cleaner, is putting more than £2billion into electric car plans, with production due to start in 2021.
Lib Dem leader Vince Cable said yesterday: “This is a sign of the spectre that Brexit has cast over the UK’S business environment.”
Inventor Sir James, worth an estimated £4billion, was one of the most vocal supporters of Brexit. He has since urged ministers to walk away from EU negotiations without a deal, saying “they’ll come to us”.
Uk-based Dyson yesterday confirmed it had picked Singapore – where it already has a base– for the plant, with construction due to start in December. It insisted the decision had nothing to do with Brexit.
Jim Rowan, chief executive of Dyson, said: “The decision of where to make our car is complex, based on supply chains, access to markets, and the availability of expertise.”
Mr Cable added: “It’s strange [that] Brexiteer James Dyson has so little faith in the prospect of the UK leaving the EU that he is manufacturing his electric cars in Asia. It’s not as if Singapore is even a low-cost location.
Labour MP Ian Murray said: “Sir James Dyson was a prominent campaigner for Brexit. Now, his Uk-based company has chosen to build its electric car in Singapore.
“It’s hardly a vote of confidence in global Britain. When even someone who claims there will be a resurgence in British manufacturing after Brexit isn’t prepared to put his money where his mouth is, it raises questions about the future of our economy and the impact on jobs and livelihoods.”
Dyson said that it has more than doubled its staff numbers in Britain in the past five years, to 4,800.
The firm was condemned in 2002 for moving vacuum production from the UK to Malaysia, followed by washing machines a year later.
VACUUM-MAKER James Dyson has sucker-punched the UK with plans to build electric cars in Singapore after we leave the EU.
It is a vote of no confidence in his country by the tycoon, one of the few manufacturers to back Brexit. Dyson should have put his money where his mouth is and invested here.