Carillion workers ‘facing chaos and confusion’
INTERNATIONAL TRADE Secretary Liam Fox has said that Britain cannot be involved in any customs union with the EU following Brexit.
His comments yesterday came as Prime Minister Theresa May insisted that it was not necessary to choose between the alternatives of frictionless trade with Europe and the ability to strike new deals elsewhere in the world.
And she appeared to leave the door open to some form of customs agreement when pressed on the issue during her visit to China.
Asked on Sky News whether the £9bn of deals struck during the three-day trip showed it was possible to stay closely aligned with the EU and its customs union while still increasing trade with countries like China, the PM replied: “What I want to do is ensure that we have got the best possible trade arrangements with China and with other countries around the world once we have left the European Union. I do want to do those free trade agreements.”
Downing Street has rejected a report in the that ministers are privately considering a customs union arrangement for post-Brexit trade in goods in order to avoid disruption to exports – something which Brexiteers believe would hamstring efforts to strike free trade agreements with global giants such as the US and China.
Speaking in Shanghai on the last day of her China trip, Mrs May suggested that it would not be necessary to choose between the two, telling the BBC: “I don’t believe that those are the alternatives. What the British people voted for is for us to take back control of our money, our borders and our laws and that’s exactly what we are going to do.
“We also want to ensure that we can trade across borders.”
Mrs May has repeatedly said that Brexit will mean leaving the existing EU single market and customs union arrangements. The customs union currently frees members from tariffs when trading with one another but requires them to observe a common external tariff regime and not to strike deals with third countries.
In an interview in Shanghai with Bloomberg TV, Dr Fox indicated that the UK was also ruling out entering into any other customs union arrangement with the remaining EU27.
“It is very difficult to see how being in a customs union is compatible with having an independent trade policy because we would therefore be dependent on what the EU negotiated in terms of its trading policies and we’d be following behind that,” Dr Fox said.
“We have to be outside of that to take advantage of those growing markets.
“One of the reasons we are leaving the European Union is to take control and that’s not possible with a common external tariff.”
The Prime Minister said her goal in upcoming talks on the future relationship with Europe was “an arrangement for trading with the EU which is going to be good for trade between the UK and EU and good for jobs in Britain”. She told the BBC: “It means a free trade agreement with the EU. We are now starting to negotiate that free trade agreement with the EU. We want that to enable trade to take place on as frictionless and tariff free a basis as possible across our borders, but we also want to be signing trade deals in the rest of the world, like here in China.”
Mrs May said her visit was a demonstration of the Government’s “global Britain” strategy of seeking out new trade opportunities far from Europe’s shores.
“It’s global Britain in action. That’s what we’ve been seeing here,” she said. “I am doing what the British people want, which is delivering on Brexit but also getting out around the world ensuring that we bring jobs back to Britain.” THOUSANDS OF Carillion workers are facing “chaos and confusion”, a union has warned, after 377 redundancies at the collapsed group were confirmed.
Some 919 workers at the giant construction and outsourcing firm have had their jobs protected. But “despite best efforts” it has not been possible to save the jobs of 377 staff, a spokesman for the official receiver said.
The Unite union said the latest announcements meant “thousands of workers remain in limbo”. The staff whose jobs have been saved are involved in infrastructure projects, central and local government, and construction contracts and are transferring to new employers who have taken on this work.
The official receiver’s spokesman said: “As part of the ongoing liquidation of the Carillion group I am pleased we have been able to safeguard the jobs of 919 employees today. Most staff are transferring on existing or similar terms and I will continue to facilitate this wherever possible as we work to find new providers for Carillion’s other contracts.
“Despite best efforts it has not been possible to secure the jobs of 377 staff, who will be made redundant.”
Workers who have lost their jobs will be entitled to make a claim for statutory redundancy payments and the Jobcentre Plus “rapid response service” would provide support, the spokesman said. “I recognise that this will be a worrying time for all those affected, their families and local communities,” the spokesman continued.
“I would like to thank all staff for their professionalism throughout the liquidation.”
A Unite spokesman said: “The latest redundancy announcement has increased the feeling of chaos and confusion which has stalked Carillion since its collapse last month.”