11 April 2019

Speaking this morning in response to last night’s European Council Meeting, Stephen Phipson CBE, CEO of Make UK said:

 

“Make UK has always been primarily motivated by avoiding the risk of no deal. We are pleased that last night’s agreement in Brussels ensures that we do not leave the EU on Friday in a manner that would do serious and long term harm to many parts of British manufacturing.

 

“However, we have been very clear about the economic damage that no-deal preparations are having on many small and medium sized firms, who have had to invest heavily in building up and maintaining stockpiles of parts and materials at great cost. Having to now pay for warehousing and storage for many more months will come as a heavy blow.

 

“We call on the Government and Opposition to move very quickly to agree a solution which Parliament can support and which delivers frictionless trade, regulatory alignment, access to labour and a long transition period.

 

“If this cannot be achieved, we have already made clear that we feel the Government needs to revoke Article 50 rather than continue with constant extensions to this uncertainty. The horror show has to end well before Halloween.”