No fear from no-deal

SIR – JCB is the UK’S largest manufacturer of construction equipment. I have worked in the family business since the Sixties, taking over from my father as chairman in 1975, the year of the first referendum on our membership of what was then called the Common Market.

As the clock ticks down to our exit from the European Union, following the second referendum in 2016, I feel compelled to say this about a no-deal Brexit: there is nothing to fear from trading on World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms.

I have decades of experience selling British-made machinery to WTO and EU countries. Nearly three quarters of what we manufacture in the UK is exported. Likewise, my company buys components from all over the world. Trading with Australia on WTO terms is as natural to us as trading with Austria on EU single-market terms.

To underline the point, 40 per cent of JCB’S exports go to WTO countries, 27 per cent to EU countries. We import components worth over £250 million from WTO countries.

This two-way trading arrangement happens every day as a matter of routine for JCB. It can work just as well for other British businesses.

I accept that, after March 29 next year, any changeover to trading on WTO terms will prove somewhat disruptive to businesses. My message is simple: businesses will adapt. It will not be the end of the world.

Ports will also adapt to the change in the regulatory landscape and, besides, Dover is not the only UK port. There are about 120 other commercial cargo ports. These will take up the slack if Dover can’t handle everything.

Lord Bamford

Chairman, JCB Rocester, Staffordshire