Leave campaigner says country needs ‘a clear vision’ on Brexit
Next boss and prominent Leave campaigner Simon Wolfson has criticised the government for failing to present a clear vision on Brexit, warning that simply leaving the European Union does not guarantee success.
The Conservative peer said he had no regrets over his support for Brexit, but said that it was important not to isolate Britain in the process.
Lord Wolfson said: “The truth is that all of us who voted for Brexit knew this at the time: Brexit in and of itself does not guarantee failure or success. It is the type of Brexit that we make that will determine how successful we are, and as of yet we don’t know really what direction the government’s going.
“We desperately need a clear vision, and what I hope is that vision is one of an open, outward-looking, tolerant, liberal Brexit that recognises that we need to control immigration, but also recognises the enormous value that hard-working, tax-paying people make to our economy when they come to our country.”
Brexit-fuelled inflation has started to take its toll on a number of sectors, with prices rising across food, energy, clothing and fuel following the pound’s collapse in the wake 0 Lord Wolfson said the type of Brexit is important of the EU referendum in June last year.
High street retailer Next has itself warned that rising prices, wage pressures and a subsequent slowdown in consumer spending could result in its full-year profits falling by as much as 14 per cent.
Lord Wolfson said the retailer was making its own contingency plans, but was not worried about its future.
“Almost everyone’s preparing for Brexit, and actually the company I work for – which is used to importing and exporting goods all over the world into all different customs areas and all different jurisdictions paying all kinds of taxes – actually the challenges that Brexit poses are relatively small.
“That doesn’t mean that they’re small for the nation, but they’re certainly small as far as our own business is considered. We’re not concerned.”