Grim warnings by business and unions as departure looms

BUSINESS GROUPS and unions have been issuing increasingly grim warnings about the impact on industry of the UK leaving the EU without a deal in place to protect trade.

Both sides of industry are calling for urgent action to help steer firms out of the Brexit darkness, as economic warning lights now “flash red.”

Allie Renison, head of EU and Trade Policy at the Institute of Directors, said: “With three months to go before we leave the EU, it’s worryingly clear that domestic political wrangling is the biggest impediment to doing so in an orderly way.

“At the start of this process, one could hardly have imagined that the UK Parliament and an exit treaty would pose the biggest risk of all.

“Business has largely tackled Brexit with a can-do, carry-on attitude, but now a political crisis is seemingly putting both all options and none on the table. We desperately hope that pragmatism and compromise prevails – across all sides.”

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady, inset, accused the Government of being in “chaos”, adding that the Prime Minister had “lost control.”

She added: “There’s no majority in Parliament for her deal and no majority for ‘no deal’ either.

“With 100 days to go, the sensible and responsible thing to do is suspend Article 50. We need more time, so the country can come together and find a real alternative.”

Mike Cherry, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said life is currently “on pause” for many small business owners.

He added: “It’s impossible to plan ahead when you have no idea what environment you’ll be faced with in 100 days’ time. “Confidence within the small business community is now at a seven-year low – we haven’t seen such pessimism since the wake of the financial crash.

“Small firms are cutting investment, halting expansion plans and finding it increasingly difficult to access the skills they need as inward migration from the EU plummets. They expect exports to drop off significantly over the coming quarter.”

The trends will become more entrenched if the UK leaves the EU without a pro-business arrangement, he said.