17/05/2019
Commenting on the ending of the cross-party talks on Brexit, Stephen Phipson, Chief Executive of Make UK, The Manufacturers’ Organisation, said:
“Avoiding a no-deal exit in March was a success. However, prolonging the uncertainty is turning a bad situation for manufacturing into something even worse. Many firms have used all their working capital to build stockpiles of parts and materials and then exhausted lines of credit to pay for the warehousing to keep them in.
“Whilst they face great hardship to keep their businesses afloat they look on with despair as Westminster moves at a snail’s pace and the cross party talks show no sign of a breakthrough. The consequences of this are almost daily announcements of the great damage being done in terms of lost orders and, an evaporation of confidence in the UK as a place to invest. The price for this will be paid in constituencies right across the UK.
“The October deadline is not an ambition – we could and should achieve clarity much sooner. Politicians need to focus on getting Britain back to work and not on Westminster game playing.”