UK business group worried by government’s Brexit comments

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May will begin a diplomatic offensive on Monday amid mounting global concern and domestic opposition to her so-called hard Brexit rhetoric for leaving the European Union.

“This is about informing policy so that we understand in which areas and parts of the country there are skills shortages, evidenced by the fact that employers are not taking local workers as much as they might do”.

CBI director-general Carolyn Fairbairn warned that Mrs May’s insistence on an immigration crackdown – including consultations on new requirements for companies to list foreign workers – could “close the door” to the United Kingdom staying an open trading economy.

Noting the government’s announcement of triggering Article 50 to leave the European Union by 2019, they claim negotiations will not be completed within the expected two-year time frame: “Many areas of regulation now up for discussion are highly complicated; whether in financial services, data protection regimes or the interconnection of energy supplies”, declared Fairbairn (above) together with her peers.

The pound also sunk on comments by French President Francois Hollande on the need for a tough European Union stance, but France’s European Union commissioner on Monday called for calm.

That, EU officials say, means a “hard Brexit“, with London’s best option perhaps a free trade deal, maybe a little better than a current EU offer to Canada.

“Our real concern is that there appears to be a rush to a hard Brexit and the voice of members of parliament are being completely lost in that rush”.

If Parliament turned down government plans for Brexit, they would have to “come back with a different… strategy”, he said.

If her initial demands are rejected out of hand, she may have little domestic political room to water them down.

It followed another letter released at the weekend, signed by the Confederation of British Industry and other trade groups, pleading with the government to be included in the process to formulate Britain’s negotiating position in talks with the EU.

“The simple truth is that the attempt to block Article 50 is an attempt to block the will of the British people”, he said.

Traders said sentiment was unlikely to turn around soon with the options market indicating some more weakness.

Mr Davis said that a Great Repeal Bill to scrap the 1972 Act which took Britain into what was then the European Economic Community would be tabled in the next parliamentary session, which begins in May 2017.

“The other thing is that the Conservative Party manifesto, on which we were elected only 17 months ago, has a very clear statement in it about “we say yes to the single market”, and it talks about “we will safeguard British interests in the single market”.

“The overall tone here is one where, behind closed doors, the message from government is in terms of partnership”.

According to The Times, senior Brexit supporters believe the Treasury is continuing to use the “scare tactics” deployed before June’s vote – and allege that the figures are both unrealistic and created to make a departure from the single market look bad. Barnier’s deputy Sabine Weyand, a German Commission staffer and expert on trade, is preparing for some of the toughest aspects of Brexit.