Bosses in “despair” were ramping up no-deal crisis plans today as the Government kept Britain lashed to a course of crashing out of the EU in eight weeks’ time.
They believe the Commons votes last night increased the likelihood of a chaotic departure from the European Union on March 29 and the pound fell as key results came through.
Business chiefs took a gloomy view of the parliamentary showdown.
“I don’t think there will be a single business this morning who is stopping or halting their no-deal planning as a result of what happened yesterday, and I fear they may even be accelerating it,” said the CBI’s Carolyn Fairbairn.
Stephen Kelly, chief executive of Manufacturing Northern Ireland, added: “Our firms are actually partly in despair, and really confused about what’s going on. There’s been a number of commitments given to Northern Ireland to protect our community here, and to protect the Good Friday Agreement, and the events of last night, effectively an attempt to rip the backstop, which has been intricately negotiated over 18 months, from the deal, really sends them into a bit of a tizzy.”
Jasmine Whitbread, chief executive of business group London First, urged the Government to “stop the clock” and delay Brexit rather than crash the country out of Europe.
“Parliament has made clear that it does not want to leave the EU without a deal,” she said. “Now the Government must heed the will of the Commons.”
