‘Brexit will force us to open in EU’

A Whitstable boat firm says it will be forced to “take wealth and jobs abroad” if no Brexit deal is reached.

The claim was made on BBC One’s Panorama programme, which aired on Monday.

In the episode, called Brexit: Who’s in Charge?, broadcaster Adrian Chiles examines how backbench MPS are dealing with the Brexit process and reconciling what is happening in Parliament with how their constituents voted in the referendum.

The show follows Mr Chiles as he visits Canterbury and Whitstable MP Rosie Duffield - a staunch Remainer who was among hundreds of MPS to reject the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal.

After meeting at Whitstable train station, Ms Duffield takes Mr Chiles to Barton Marine Equipment Ltd - a firm in Tyler Way that makes spare parts for boats - with 65% of its production sold to other European countries.

The firm is convinced that it will be forced to open a new facility in Europe if the British government reaches a trade deal with the EU.

CEO Suzanne Baulstone says: “It’s disgraceful that I have to take wealth and jobs and move them abroad instead of keeping them here - in Kent, and the UK.”

Ms Duffield says it is stories like this that mean she was unable to vote for Mrs May’s Brexit deal.

“This is a unique business in my part of the world, and I cannot vote for a deal that’s going to put her out of business or move this business away,” she said.

Later in the programme, Ms Duffield reveals: “Overwhelmingly I get ‘stop Brexit’ emails, or ‘let’s stay in’ or ‘let’s have a people’s vote’. I hope we’re moving towards a people’s vote.”