By Hugo Dixon
We may be about to witness corporate arson on a horrific scale. The Brexiters have lit the torch and the prime minister is doing nothing to stop them.
The string of bad news we saw yesterday is just the foretaste of things to come if we crash out of the EU with no deal. P&O announced that its fleet of cross-Channel ferries will re-register under the Cypriot flag. Sony said it would move its European HQ from London to Amsterdam to avoid Brexit disruption. Dixons Carphone and Pets at Home are stockpiling supplies because they fear chaos at the ports.
And James Dyson, yes Dyson the Brexiter pin-up whom Boris Johnson adored because he campaigned for the UK to quit the EU, is shifting his company headquarters to Singapore. The firm says it’s nothing to do with Brexit. It’s just “future proofing” its business. Pull the other one.
The prime minister is sitting by watching this corporate arson, like Nero fiddling when Rome burnt. She refuses to take “no deal” off the table – and is threatening to whip her party to keep it open as an option.
Fortunately, enough MPs both in the opposition and her own party are likely to stand up to her and put out the fire. A string of amendments to the government’s non-existent Plan B – especially killer ones from Dominic Grieve and Yvette Cooper – should do the job. But much damage has already been done – and cannot be repaired.
As the horror of what the hardliners propose becomes clear, two big bastions of the business community are finally swinging into action. The Financial Times has a powerful leader entitled: “If Parliament cannot resolve Brexit, a new referendum is needed.” Since MPs are unlikely to agree on any form of Brexit, the FT line is likely soon to become a clear call for a People’s Vote.
Meanwhile, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has produced analysis which shows that “no deal” would be a “disaster” for the British economy. Its interactive map shows the impact on every region and nation – and it is grim.
The CBI now needs to go further, follow its analysis through to its logical conclusions and say: “If MPs cannot agree a deal, they must ask the people if they still want to leave the EU.”