CBI conference: the negative impact of Brexit.

 

Nearly two years after the UK's post-Brexit trade deal with the EU came into force, company bosses at the CBI (investment forum) annual conference last month were still discussing their struggles with border frictions and a lack of access to EU workers. But the notable difference from the previous year's gathering was that, for the first time since the UK left the EU, business leaders were hopeful of having a more pragmatic conversation with politicians over the negative impacts of Brexit on trade and investment. "I say to Brexiters, the best guarantor of Brexit is an economy that grows. In the past, the CBI was criticised by Tory Brexit supporters, who attacked it for backing the Remain campaign in 2016.

MPs and Downing Street officials have repeatedly briefed against business leaders for lobbying the government to improve trade relations with the EU. Business groups have long maintained that the politics of Brexit has overshadowed economic realities. But this year, they say they are seeing a shift in the political mood, partly due to ministerial changes after the exit of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss but also because the economic impact of Brexit has become more apparent after initially being obscured by the pandemic. "Sarah Pollard, finance chief at PZ Cussons, told delegates at the CBI conference that Brexit had had a "very clear impact on access to talent and consumer confidence"."

Many discussions around the conference venue focused on growth rather than Brexit and stressed the need to soften the blow of the worsening economic environment. "It's not a Brexit conversation," said one business leader. In a sign of the thaw in relations, the government has invited business groups to suggest ideas to improve the investment climate in time for next spring's Budget. "We were told that the Autumn Statement was about the tough fiscal calls but that ministers will come back next spring with a pro-growth, industry policy," said one business chief.

"No one wants to unpick Brexit," Fletcher said. "we have seen it much more difficult to attract capital to the UK, and that's across the industry in general". However, Joni Rautavuori, chief executive of Tharsus, a manufacturer in Blyth, a "red wall" seat won by the Conservatives in 2019, said Brexit remained a source of uncertainty. "Criticism of the government and its policies was blunt at the annual dinner of the Chemical Industries Association."

The government declined to send a minister to the event, as has been customary in previous years. Still, when this was announced, the audience of several hundred delegates from some of the biggest names in British industry broke into spontaneous applause. The chemical industry, which has exports of more than £50bn a year, half of which go to the EU, is a significant component of UK manufacturing and directly employs 150,000 skilled workers. Speeches from the CIA's (Chemical industry)  chair and chief executive despaired at the recent succession of Tory prime ministers, with unflattering pictures of Johnson and Truss flashing up on giant screens. Tom Crotty, CIA chair, said Brexit continued to produce headwinds for the industry and asked why the UK appeared to be "looking down our noses" at our biggest trade partners.

Last week, an array of business, legal, worker and environmental groups wrote to Shapps arguing that the retained EU law bill, which seeks to remove EU-derived laws from the statute book by the end of the year, "will prove costly and bureaucratic and would undermine the certainty and stability workers and businesses need if the economy is to prosper". "If we spend all this money, it's a 10-15 year investment; we need to make sure that the environment remains stable. "But there are fears that Rishi Sunak's political weakness could lead him to harden his stance on Brexit to win over intransigent factions of his party." Some business leaders say they have not seen much progress in dealing with officials.

'If we spend all this money, it's a 10-15 year investment; we need to ensure that the environment remains stable.

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