A manufacturing sector logistics expert has advised the industry’s EU traders to continue preparing for a “calamity” no-deal Brexit.
David Johnson, Managing Director of Leeds-based Tudor International Freight, said there was understandable relief among affected businesses at concessions Prime Minister Theresa May had made in the event of a revised withdrawal agreement being rejected by the Commons next week.
Michelle Heseltine
He said the Prime Minister had announced that, following such a defeat, the house would be first to reject the option of the UK leaving on 29th March without a deal.
Johnson said: “Even if the relevant votes are to reject a no-deal outcome and seek a deferral of our departure, a cliff-edge exit will be far from off the table.”
“One obstacle to approval of the amended deal is latest reports suggesting any concessions the government can extract from the EU on the so-called Irish backstop, apparently the main reason for the original withdrawal agreement’s Commons rejection in January, will be insufficient to overturn its record 230-vote defeat.”
“In addition, any deadline extension would have to be agreed unanimously by the other 27 EU states and in recent days French president Emmanuel Macron pus other senior bloc sources have said a deferral would only be granted if it was for a clear and important purpose.”
“This could be to hold a second referendum or general election, but not merely to give the UK more time to prepare for no-deal, for example.”
“Given the current Parliamentary deadlock, in which there’s apparently no majority favouring any outcome, it’s perfectly feasible manufacturing businesses could find themselves approaching the end of this limited extra period with nothing significant having changed and a no-deal Brexit again looming, as it is now.”
“We’ve been advocating, on behalf of manufacturing companies whose freight we forward, for many months, that the government should avoid a no-deal departure. While we welcome next week’s opportunity for the Commons to vote against such a calamity on 29th March, affected business should continue preparations, as, sadly, no-deal remains a real possibility, either this month or at some point in the future.”