Responding to reports that many manufacturing exporters are reporting a “stark worsening” in sales and orders, Sam Gyimah, Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said:
This is yet more bad news for manufacturing exporters in the UK. There can be no doubt that the three and half years of Brexit uncertainty has done untold damage to our economy. Today we continue to count the cost of this ongoing crisis.
Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal promises more insecurity, more delay and more decline. Meanwhile Labour are planning their own disastrous form of Brexit.
A Liberal Democrat government will stop Brexit, providing the certainty that businesses are crying out for and a pro-business environment. We know that for manufacturing in this country the best deal is the deal that we already have, which is remaining in the EU.
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
#interrail2025: Day 6 - turning for home... but how?
Two Lib Dem gains in council by-elections
Lochee Park - free family fun day #dundeewestend
Labour failing on social care reform
Photo gallery
Raven (1977) - by the writers of Children of the Stones
Learning from the Zen masters
John Grout
David Evans
Richard Flowers
expats
9 Comments
I do wish that we would stop referring to Brexit uncertainty. All it does is reinforce the message people know best – Boris Johnson’s solution “get out now.”
The problem is the mess the Conservatives have made of Brexit – a poor deal followed by a bad deal followed by a worse exit. If we can’t get this sort of simple messaging straight after three years, we really are going to get trampled.
“We know that for manufacturing in this country the best deal is the deal that we already have, which is remaining in the EU”
The problem with this argument is that the decline in the UK’s manufacturing industry has occurred whilst we have been members of the EU /EEC.
That doesn’t mean it’s necessarily been the EU’s fault. If UK governments had cared more about manufacturing, the decline may not have been as serious. Membership of the EU has, however, increased the economic skew of the country towards the SE of England. There’s been easy money to be made in the service sector so why bother making things? The SE of England has benifitted from EU membership while the industrial north has declined. We see that in the national voting pattern and higher relative support for Leave in the Northern areas.
It remains to be seen whether the UK being out of the EU will help address the regional imbalance. But, I expect we’ll find out soon enough.
‘Boris Johnson’s solution “get out now.” ‘
The problem with that is that ‘now’ is not an available option. What de Pfeffel is offerring is just a further step in a process which may take a decade or more.
For those weary of the Brexit process ‘ they ain’t seen nothing yet. ‘
It remains to be seen whether the UK being out of the EU will help address the regional imbalance.
I’m surprised you don’t already have a good idea of the answer, given neither the Conservatives or Labour really care about UK manufacturing and/or exporters…
Looking at various client businesses, it doesn’t really matter how good those trade deals Brexiteers like to talk about are, the 447m are voting with their feet.
The EU has played a blinder, by preparing for no deal Brexit, business across the EU27 now know that doing business with post-Brexit UK is going to involve a lot of paperwork, so they are have started looking for EU27 replacement suppliers. With consulting services, I’ve seen a drying up of new work coming from the EU27. Fundamentally the problem has been the Brexiteers & Conservatives total failure to have any idea on just what sort of post-Brexit trade, social and political relationship the UK actually wants with the EU and clearly communicate it.
David at the top of the comments is right, it is not Brexit uncertainty it is BREXIT LUNACY.
It is essential not to reinforce the Tory message which is ‘End this Uncertainty with our off the peg solution’.
Under Johnson’s WA, in three years time, there will be virtually no exports – and his trade negotiators will be battering every asset we have -and those assets, what are they – Access to every market in this country … in return for peanuts.
“You want to export your processed fish to us? Sure – give us access to your fishing grounds and we’ll do a deal.” “You want to sell your London Gin to us? Sure, give us access to your health service market.”
Spell it out.
Peter Martin
“The SE of England has benifitted from EU membership while the industrial north has declined.”
A typically misleading Brexiter-statement. A correct sentence would have been: The SE has benefitted from EU membership while the industrial north totally depends on it.
What did you expect? The EU re-industrialising the UK? It has done so to a degree, while the entire developed world has de-industrialised. Ever heard of a country named China?
@ Arnold,
At least we agree that the SE of England has largely benefited from EU membership!
The big Leave vote came from the North, the Midlands and maybe the SW too, so we need to ask ourselves why that should be. Germany hasn’t de-industrialised. I’m not against de-industrialisation per se. I’d rather not work in a factory if there was something better on offer. But on the other hand I’d rather work in a factory than work on minimum wages in the gig economy.
There is a phrase “left behind”. There’s really been no need to leave anyone behind. It’s not necessarily all the EU’s fault but those who have been cast aside aren’t likely to see it in quite the way you’d like them to.
BBC’s Katya Adler insisted it could soon be announced that Jean-Claude Juncker will stay on as President of the EU commission to the end of the year rather than give way to Ursula von der Leyen. While on Brexitcast Ms Adler said: “I think we will very soon possibly find out, as we talked about the Commission, that Jean-Claude Juncker will see the year out rather than handing over to the new commission. “With the new UK commissioner or not.
“It has already been extended, another extension.
“It was supposed to have started on the first of November.
“But they seem to have been kicking that can down the road.”
In addition to the continued tension between the UK and the EU over Brexit, a new row has materialised over the UK refusing to follow EU rules due to the upcoming election.
https://worldabcnews.com/brexit-news-katya-adler-confirms-juncker-will-stay-on-until-next-year-amid-eu-chaos-world-news/
Strange as it may seem we have not really had an inquiry into why we lost the 1916 referendum. How and why we won in 1975 is in Shirley Williams’ memoirs. A referendum was a novelty, but the existing members of the EEC had more and faster economic growth than the UK, partially because of EEC reforms.
Former Chancellor Roy Jenkins said that it was difficult to take seriously Tony Benn as an economics minister. Former Tory Minister Enoch Powell had been dismissed by Ted Heath and his shadow cabinet because of the ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech, whereas former PM Ted Heath, Labour deputy leader Roy Jenkins and Liberal leader David Steel were all in favour. Roy Jenkins had defied a three line whip in the Commons during the passage of the legislation. Headline writers dubbed the three ‘the Europals’.
Among the Conservatives former PM Harold Macmillan had applied and been vetoed by President De Gaulle.
At federal conference I counted 600 delegates at a fringe meeting, all in favour of Remain.
Catherine Bearder MEP advised us that patriotism would be an issue, so she had bought, and was wearing, a scarf in red, white and blue. A member of the panel asked whether there was anyone present who wanted to put a different view. None did.