Ministers listen to business over fears for Brexit
BUSINESS LEADERS have said ministers are listening to their concerns about Brexit following a summit meeting with David Davis.
The Brexit Secretary hosted senior figures amid concerns about the prospect of leaving the European Union without an agreement on trade and customs arrangements.
The meeting came as Theresa May restated her position that Britain cannot remain in the European customs union after Brexit if it wants to strike free trade deals with other countries around the world.
In a sign of business concerns, CBI director general Carolyn Fairbairn has called for Britain to remain a member of the single market and the customs union until a free trade deal with the remaining 27 member states is finalised.
In an effort to reassure business leaders, Mr Davis hosted senior figures at Chevening House in Kent, the grace-and-favour country residence he shares with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox.
Following the talks, Terry Scuoler, chief executive of manufacturers’ organisation EEF, said: “This meeting has been a good first step and it’s clear ministers are listening to business concerns, which we welcome.
“We had an open and frank discussion and we’ve started a process where we will work together to obtain as much clarity and certainty as possible for industry as we prepare to leave the EU.”
Federation of Small Businesses policy director Martin McTague said ministers acknowledged that smaller firms would be “least able to cope” with trade barriers after Brexit.
He said: “I was very encouraged that government Ministers seemed in listening mode and committed to achieving a probusiness Brexit.
“They made clear at the meeting, which included a number of big business leaders, that the needs of SMEs would be top of the priority list when looking at our future outside of the EU.
“There was strong recognition from ministers that small businesses would be the least able to cope with trade barriers, both in terms of tariffs and bureaucracy. And I was heartened by the recognition of the benefits of free trade, and a clear moral drive that our future success will rest upon it.”
Speaking at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Mrs May said she wanted to ensure that the UK continued to enjoy a good trading relationship with the EU.
However, she said that the country could not be a member of “every part of the customs union” and make its own trade arrangements with other countries outside the EU.
“What we will be discussing as part of our negotiations for the future arrangements is we do want to ensure that we can trade around the rest of the world,” she told Sky News.
“That means we can’t be members of every part of the customs union.
“But we want to continue to have tariff-free and as frictionless trade across borders as possible because we want to ensure that we have that good trading relationship with the EU.”
Ms Fairbairn’s intervention in a speech on Thursday was an indication of mounting frustration among firms at the failure so far of Ministers to spell out what arrangements will be put in place if there is no trade deal with the remaining 27 by the expected date of Britain’s withdrawal in March 2019.
In her speech, Ms Fairbairn said it was “impossible” to imagine a deal could be finalised that quickly and called for Britain to remain in the single market and the customs union until there was a trade agreement.
Such a “common-sense” approach would, she said, avoid a “cliff-edge” break, with exporters suddenly faced with new tariffs and customs checks, and give firms the stability to carry on investing in the UK after Brexit.
Her proposal is likely to be treated with suspicion by hardline Brexiteers.