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Brexit uncertainty a ‘disgrace’, says Airbus CEO Tom Enders
Airbus chief executive Tom Enders said on Thursday it is a “disgrace” that companies are still unable to plan ahead.
After five leading business organisations said they are “watching in horror” at Westminster politics preventing progress on Brexit, Airbus chief executive Tom Enders said on Thursday it is a “disgrace” that companies are still unable to plan ahead.
Reflecting wider ennui, Enders’ comments were significantly received with “delight” by business minister Richard Harrington, who said he was not worried if Prime Minister Theresa May drops him.
The UK is due to leave the EU on March 29, and companies have been clamouring for clarity on life beyond Brexit. These include nearly 900 Indian companies, many of whom use a base in the UK to access the European market, but have put a hold on investments and expansion.
Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover and appliance major Dyson are among major UK-based companies who have expressed concern over the future of supply chains across Europe, tariffs and ‘passporting’ rights, or the ability to operate and service markets across the European Union.
Enders said Airbus “will have to make potentially very harmful decisions for the UK” in the event an agreement on the way ahead is not reached, adding: “Please don’t listen to the Brexiteers’ madness which asserts that, because we have huge plants here, we will not move and we will always be here. They are wrong.”
Harrington told an audience of German industrialists: “This is a disaster for business. I am very happy to be public about it and very happy if the prime minister decides I am not the right person (to be business minister). (A no-deal Brexit) would be a total disaster for the economy.”
“I was delighted to read Airbus’s comments this morning because it is telling it like it is. I do believe time is of the essence here. If I could put myself in the head of Ralf Speth (CEO of JLR), they must be placing order for parts now; ordering eight to 10 weeks ahead,” he said.
Sony said recently it would transfer its European headquarters from the UK to the Netherlands to avoid disruptions caused by Brexit, while Dyson announced it was moving its headquarters to Singapore from Wiltshire.
May has been seeking support and views from various MPs and stake-holders to ensure that an agreement on the terms of leaving the EU can be reached in parliament. The draft agreement reached with Brussels was voted down in the House of Commons earlier this month.
