Brexit hero goes to war on Carney the doom monger

Bank of England bosses are either fools or knaves says ousted business chief

HE’S the outspoken business leader who shot to fame when he was ousted from his job for daring to speak his mind over Brexit.

John Longworth resigned as director general of the British Chambers of Commerce in March after he defied government propagandists.

Whilst other organisations such as the CBI toed the ‘Remain’ line, he bluntly declared that Britain would be better off out of the European Union.

In his first major interview since the Brexit vote, he says he has no regrets about quitting his £200,000-a-year job without taking a payoff.

Now he is urging Theresa May to seize a ‘once in a generation golden opportunity’ to create a better UK economy freed from the shackles of Brussels. The outspoken 58-year-old Lancastrian believes the new Prime Minister, though officially on the Remain side before the referendum, is really a closet Brexiteer.

‘I was surprised Theresa May didn’t come out for Brexit,’ he says. ‘She made a very Eurosceptic speech on immigration in September last year. And I had a private breakfast session with her where she mentioned a House of Lords report on immigration citing at best marginal benefits for the economy as a whole, and disbenefits for those who live here. In other words, it found immigration made people poorer.’

So is he pleased to see May in Number 10, as opposed to one of the full-on Brexiteers such as Boris Johnson, Michael Gove or Andrea Leadsom?

‘I judge people on results and the jury is out on her,’ he says.

If he is giving Mrs May the benefit of the doubt, he doesn’t sound quite so well disposed towards Mark Carney.

Does he think the Bank of England governor has compromised his independence by issuing dire warnings of the economic consequences of Brexit, and if so, should he step down?

‘He was out of line before the referendum, for sure. It’s not for me say whether he should resign,’ he says.

That’s not the most heartfelt endorsement, I suggest.

‘I think he wants to be extraordinarily mindful of the responsibility he has now,’ says Longworth. ‘It is incumbent on the Bank and the Treasury to imagine a different sort of economy and relationship with the world, rather than a poorer version of what we had before.’

The only reason the Bank recently had to launch a stimulus package, including a cut in interest rates and more QE moneyprinting, was because it had created an atmosphere of doom ahead of the referendum, Longworth claims.

AND he adds: ‘The question is whether the Bank should be judged as knaves or fools. If they acknowledge they were exaggerating or inadvertently telling porkies prior to June 23 [the referendum date] then they will be considered knaves not to be believed in future. But if the acknowledge they simply got it wrong they will surely be fools and unreliable.’

He goes on: ‘The stimulus package was premature. The timing and scale of it was in itself alarmist.’

The Bank and the Treasury must, he says, ‘embrace a new economy and a new approach to the world as the electorate has demanded’.

That means, in his view, a quick clean break with the EU.

‘If we delay, or make too many concessions, then the UK will end up with a weaker version of our current economy. If we have long drawn-out discussions then we will frustrate the demands of the electorate, and we will lose a golden opportunity of creating a new future. We should speed up the process as much as we can.

‘Leaving is a chance to make a complete review of our economic policies and our place in the world, including the 0.7pc of national income we spend on aid rather than trade.’

What about those who say we can’t move fast, because we haven’t enough skilled negotiators to get a good deal?

‘They should hire people in from elsewhere,’ he says. ‘Where there is a will there’s a way. We should aim to disentangle ourselves within 12 months.’

The process of extricating ourselves from the European Union is, he says, simpler if you are not worried about access to the single market for goods and services.

‘Everyone has access to the single market, it is a question of what terms. If we sell high-quality goods we will have trade.

‘The UK currency has fallen 15pc so our goods are already cheaper than most tariffs that could be applied. We just need to let the UK economy boom.’

The risk, he says, is in the civil service: ‘Sir Humphrey [Appleby, the manipulative civil servant from BBC sitcom Yes Minister] is always at work, the civil service can cause delay. Delay, delay, delay. We will lose a golden opportunity.’

The real immediate benefit once the UK leaves, according to Longworth, is that we regain control of the money we were contributing to Brussels coffers. Ah, does he mean the much-disputed £350m that could, according to the Brexit camp, be earmarked for the NHS?

‘Well, that wasn’t my figure. But in fact, a higher number of £367m a week is easily defensible. We should use it improve infrastructure, science and education to create an economic environment where we are the best place to do business. Then there will be more money available for the NHS as a natural consequence.’

Even Longworth concedes it will not be a smooth ride to the sunlit uplands, however quickly we make the break.

‘We have been monumentally rubbish at exports. We have too little to export as a result of poor past industrial policy and we can no longer go on selling off Britain to fund an unsustainable current account deficit. The Government has allowed the UK to be sold off without a murmur. There is no other country in the world, including the US, that would countenance this. If you have long-term overseas investment then it is good. If you get asset-stripping, that is really bad.’

His outspoken stance on Brexit made Longworth a hate figure for Remainers. But agree or disagree, he commands respect on all sides for standing up for his principles even at the cost of his well-paid job at the BCC. And, having successfully completed a five-day cycle ride for charity a few years ago with his wife through India’s Rajasthan – a region famed for wild tigers – he is a man ready to withstand a mauling.

He resigned from the BCC immediately after the row broke out, without compensation. ‘I would have had a very good case, but a settlement would have taken weeks and put a severe financial burden on the organisation,’ he says.

He then worked tirelessly as an unpaid volunteer as chairman of the Vote Leave Business Council.

LONGWORTH knew the Brexiteers were heading for victory when he began to get positive messages from ‘the real world outside Westminster’ – including from a Kent fish market, Royal Marines in the south west and ‘people who had never voted for years’ in Salford and Bolton.

‘The campaign was exhausting but I watched the results all night with my family at a lock-in at a pub in Leadenhall Market in the City.’

He is now taking a break with the formidable-sounding Sheila, his wife, who has insisted after the rigours of the campaign that they go on a ‘mini-gap year, well, a few weeks travelling’. They have been to Boston in the US, Portugal, the South of France, Ibiza and backpacking in the Greek islands. ‘It’s my farewell European tour, ha ha.’

They are now heading to the Far East before he comes back to look for a job.

Any regrets? ‘It was the right decision to leave to speak out and we were also successful. So no, I have no regrets at all, none whatsoever.’