The Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the largest trade association in the United Kingdom whose membership accounts for a third of the country's private sector workforce,said the inevitable "No-Deal Brexit" can't be managed and will seriously harm the British economy.
CBI has solid reasons to be alarmed, as have other trade associations in the UK. Prime Minister Theresa May's contentious Brexit deal will be roundly defeated tomorrow, Jan, 15, in Parliament. May has chosen not to prepare a Plan B, and has instead stoutly insisted her Brexit deal is the only viable option facing the UK.
Worse, the country might plunge into a full-blown constitutional crisis tomorrow if MPs plotting to take control of the Brexit process and potentially reverse the referendum result of 2016 have it their way in the Commons.
In an impassioned letter published by the Sunday Express yesterday, May said the failure to deliver Brexit will be "a catastrophic and unforgivable breach of trust in our democracy." She said not supporting her deal risks the UK leaving the EU with no deal or Brexit not happening at all.
She pleaded with MPs to back her Brexit deal in Tuesday's Commons vote. May, however, is widely expected to lose the vote on the withdrawal agreement she reached with the EU, which some ministers have said will lead to Brexit "paralysis."
The UK will automatically leave the European Union on March 29, whether May's Brexit deal is passed by MPs or not. Dire predictions of doom for the British economy and its people following a No-Deal Brexit have been flooding the British press. Among the direst predictions: a contraction of the economy by up to 10% and a massive increase in the number of jobless as businesses close or transfer to the continent.
CBI shares those sentiments. It said a no-deal Brexit is "certainly not desirable" and "the economic consequences would be profound, widespread and lasting."
CBI Director General Carolyn Fairbairn called on May's harassed government to immediately craft a plan to avert a No-Deal Brexit and protect jobs should parliament on Tuesday vote against its Brexit deal agreed with Brussels.
"Make no mistake. No-Deal cannot be 'managed'," declared Fairbairn.
She predicts the UK's economy could shrink by up to 8.0 percent, resulting in less money for the country's public services. She also said businesses will face new costs and tariffs. UK ports will be disrupted, separating firms from the parts they need to supply their customers."
She also believes trade deals with countries like Japan, South Korea and Turkey will be lost. Under Brexit, the UK will have to renegotiate all the trade treaties it has with other countries. As a member of the EU, those treaties were negotiated on its behalf by the EU.
Fairbairn said if Parliament can't agree, then the government must immediately to set out what it will do to avert a No-Deal exit, and to guarantee this. If the government does choose this path, the business community has the chance finally to move beyond the all-consuming obsessions of Brexit.
