Tom Enders, the head of Airbus, a major UK employer has not held back over his thoughts on the Government’s handling of Brexit.
Enders slammed the Government branding it a “disgrace” and said the business might be forced to leave these shores, post-Brexit, to ensure they can compete in the global marketplace.
Airbus, which employs more than 14,000 people in the UK with around 110,000 more jobs connected in supply chain.
He said: “In a global economy the UK no longer has the capability to go it alone. Major aerospace projects are multinational affairs.
“It is a disgrace that, more than two years after the result of the 2016 referendum, businesses are still unable to plan properly for the future.
We, along with many of our peers, have repeatedly called for clarity, but we still have no idea what is really going on here.”
Mr Enders said the UK’s aerospace sector is “standing at a precipice” due to Brexit.
He said: “Brexit is threatening to destroy a century of development based on education, research and human capital. If there’s a no-deal Brexit, we at Airbus will have to make potentially very harmful decisions for the UK.
“Please don’t listen to the Brexiteers’ madness which asserts that ‘because we have huge plants here we will not move and we will always be here’. They are wrong.
“Of course it is not possible to pick up and move our large UK factories to other parts of the world immediately. However, aerospace is a long-term business and we could be forced to redirect future investments in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
“And, make no mistake, there are plenty of countries out there who would love to build the wings for Airbus aircraft.”
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/opinion/its-time-to-stop-listening-to-the-brexit-hypocrites/23/01/