UK election
Industry leaders from across plastics, chemicals and manufacturing have called on “stability and certainty” from the Brexit deal pursued by the Government following the General Election.
Following the Conservative party winning a majority in the vote held on December 12, senior figures have urged MPs to “get Brexit right” to ensure that there is as little disruption as possible to UK industry.
Philip Law, Director-General of The British Plastics Federation, said: “Now that the general election has decisively altered the composition of the government, what the plastics industry needs most of all is stability and certainty so that key investment decisions can be made.
“We urge the government to pursue a form of Brexit where rules and regulations remain closely aligned to the EU so that it causes as little disruption as possible for long-established supply chains and key trading partners.”
Law called on Government to put reducing climate change, recycling and a circular economy at the heart of its agenda, adding: “Pending full implementation of an EPR system that ensures climate change is centremost to future policy, there is an urgent need to ensure a more standardised collection of plastics and to increase recycling capacity, which would ultimately reduce the UK’s reliance on exporting waste for recycling.”
On behalf of the chemical industry, Steve Elliott, Chief Executive of the Chemical Industries Association, said the election has provided the “political clarity and certainty” long sought by business.
“Now we have that we must get Brexit right and secure an exit and future trading relationship between the UK and the EU that enables broader manufacturing and the chemical industry to maintain and grow its contribution to the whole of the UK economy and to people’s everyday lives,” he explained.
“Our industry in this Country and throughout Europe will be supporting both our Government and the European Union to ensure there is a friction-less, free trade agreement in place as soon as possible. We also believe that it is in our environmental and commercial best interests to secure close regulatory alignment with the European Union and to ensure that we can continue to attract and retain the very best skilled, specialist people from anywhere around the world.”
Stephen Phipson, Chief Executive of Make UK, representing manufacturers across the country, said the recent focus on Brexit and the “absence of bandwidth in Government” has meant that there has been “little movement on many vital policy issues”, adding that there is work to do before industry can turn on the taps of investment.
“The first job is the urgent need to begin negotiations on our future trading relationship with Europe, cementing frictionless trade, access to key skills, regulatory alignment and space for business to prepare for new arrangements. Manufacturing exports are one of the powerhouses of our economy and we must allow them to flourish,” Phipson commented.
“At the same time we call on the Prime Minister to set out a vision for the future of our economy which allies a re-invigorated plan for modern industrial transformation and growth with how we are going to tackle the immense societal challenges such as digitisation and climate change.”
Today (20thDecember), MPs backed Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plan for the UK to leave the EU on 31 January 2020.
They voted 358 to 234 - a majority of 124 - in favour of the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill. The Bill also sees a ban on an extension of the transition period past 2020.
The Bill will be debated further when MPs return from Christmas recess on 7thJanuary 2020.