Unlease, hell! Brexit battle for car industry
BRITAIN will reject EU plans that could wreck our motor industry by driving lease cars off the roads.
It is feared Brussels wants to stop manufacturers selling service deals for their own products.
This would affect UK car makers, who sell 700,000 motors a year in instalment deals that usually include servicing for the lease period.
Many of Britain’s 940,000 company drivers also have leased vehicles maintained by firms owning the fleets.
Other industries affected by the rules would include lift makers and aero engine giant Rolls-Royce. In a paper to be sent to the EU this week, Brexit Secretary David Davis will argue that firms must be allowed to continue selling servicing packages.
A Whitehall source said: “Services are essential for production of goods, their sale, distribution and delivery, and for their operation and repair.”
In the next EU talks, Mr Davis will also discuss data protection and how UK courts will work outside the control of the European Court of Justice.
He said: “We will be putting forward imaginative and creative solutions.”
AN appearance by ex Ukip leader Nigel Farage at the Grand Theatre in Lancaster in October has been axed after over 500 people backed a social media petition to stop it. FOREIGN Secretary Boris Johnson has been accused of lying about Brexit creating 300,000 jobs.
The former Leave chief had claimed quitting the EU would bring work as the UK signed trade deals across the world.
But the Government has admitted it cannot implement new trade deals until the Brexit transition period ends. That could be three years after we exit in 2019. Labour MP Chuka Umunna, a supporter of the Open Britain campaign, said: “It’s clear nobody should believe a word Boris and his cronies say.”
It has also been revealed the UK must retain EU standards on food safety.