Airbus pressure over Brexit deal

THERESA MAY is facing calls to abandon her Brexit “red lines” after aerospace giant Airbus warned it could pull out of the UK with the loss of thousands of jobs if Britain crashes out of the EU without a deal.

The company, which employs 14,000 people at 25 sites across the country, said it would “reconsider its investments in the UK, and its long-term footprint in the country” if Britain was forced to leave the single market and customs union in March 2019 without any transition agreement in place.

The statement was greeted with dismay by unions, opposition parties and pro-EU Tories who called on ministers to come up with a “pragmatic, sensible Brexit” which protected trade and jobs.

The Government insisted the negotiations with Brussels were making “good progress” and it was confident that a “no deal scenario” would not arise.

However Airbus said that it had been trying to raise its concerns about where the negotiations were heading for the past year without success.

Conservative former Welsh secretary Stephen Crabb said the firm’s warning should be a wake-up call for ministers.

“The enormous Airbus factory in North Wales is one of the jewels in the crown of UK manufacturing. A pragmatic, sensible Brexit that protects trade and jobs is vital,” he said.

For Labour, shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said Mrs May needed to drop her Brexit “red lines”.

“The Government’s reckless decision to keep no deal on the table and to rule out a customs union or strong single market deal after Brexit is putting jobs and the economy at risk,” he said.

“Ministers need to start listening to legitimate concerns of businesses and get a grip of the Brexit negotiations.”

Unite’s assistant general secretary Steve Turner said it was imperative the Government avoided a “cliff edge” Brexit.

“It would be a betrayal of Airbus workers, their families and the tens of thousands of workers in the wider supply chain if the Government failed to secure frictionless trade and access to the customs union and single market,” he said.

However former Ukip leader Nigel Farage suggested the warnings were exaggerated.

“Twenty years ago I heard car manufacturers saying if Britain didn’t join the euro they may well consider pulling out of Britain – Nissan, others like that,” he told Sky News. “Big business will always lobby for their interests, of course they will.”

In a Brexit “risk assessment” published on its website, Airbus called on the Government to extend the planned transition period due to run until December 2020, saying it was too short for the business to reorganise its supply chain.

A Government spokeswoman said that while officials were working closely with companies to understand their concerns, they did not expect a “no deal” scenario to arise.