Farage responds as Microsoft chief dubs Brexit Britain worse for business than EU
Microsoft’s vice chair and president has slammed the UK competition watchdog’s decision to block the software company’s 68.7 billion dollar (£55 billion) takeover of gaming firm Activision Blizzard, calling it a “bad day for Britain”.
Brad Smith said the UK regulatory environment compared unfavourably with the EU and warned the “English Channel has never seemed wider”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he was “very disappointed” at the move and that it was “probably the darkest day” in its 40-year history in the UK.
“There’s a clear message here. The European Union is a more attractive place to start a business if you want some day to sell it than the United Kingdom,” he said.
Reacting to the news, Nigel Farage said it was a damning indictment of our “high tax, excess regulation, globalist government”.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has defended its decision to block Microsoft’s deal for Activision and said the UK was “absolutely open for business”.
Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE).
He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author.
Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
