Mick McCarthy, Managing Director of McCarthy Environmental, comments on Brexit and calls for decisive decision making …
The Government needs to show some clarity in the way we are going forward – the constant changing between hard Brexit and a Brexit deal is creating unnecessary uncertainty.
Inevitably, this will encourage people to put off projects they otherwise wouldn’t and, put simply, this is bad for business.
Businesses need to know which direction we are moving in. Then, whatever that direction is, we need to know what the plans in place are for us to carry on trading both in Europe and countries outside Europe.
The Government is not united in their approach to Brexit and this is not good for the country and certainly not for business.
We need to see decisive leadership and an approach to this process that the Government then sticks to, no more constant changing of tact and approach.
Decisiveness will enable us to make clear plans on the way forward. As an importer of equipment from Europe, we would favour a negotiated deal on continuing trade with Europe for a pre-determined amount of time so a proper trading relationship with Europe can be negotiated and implemented.
If it is hard Brexit we need to look at the trade rules and get to grips with how we are going to trade with Europe and other global markets.
I visit lots of companies, many of which rely on migrant labour. That is not just unskilled labour, I am talking about Engineers and Technicians that have come from countries all across Europe.
Companies need these people, so a clear Brexit strategy and migrant worker policy would help with retaining those staff and understanding how companies who need to recruit from abroad are able to do that post Brexit.
The decision to vote leave was made by the majority to regain control over this country’s laws and institutions, people did not vote to cease trading with our European neighbours so let’s have a clear and concise policy and approach from our government in the run-up to March 2019.
If you have an opinion you’d like to share, please use the comments section below.