Why we oppose Brexit

Like most businesses, we typically shy away from political commentary, as it’s very easy for it to become commercially damaging. But with regard to Brexit, we’ve decided to take a stand. We strongly disagree with the actions of our Government and idly standing by isn’t something we can do in good conscience.

Commercial Implications

A good portion of our work comes from EU based companies. Some of our Clients have raised concerns about doing business with UK based companies after Brexit. To mitigate these risks, we’ve looked closely into setting up an EU based company to ensure our Clients can continue to work with us – so far we haven’t pulled the trigger on this, as we remain hopeful that we won’t be forced into it, but if our Clients prefer to deal with an EU based company, we wouldn’t hesitate to swiftly make this happen. And we’re not alone, a recent survey of the UK Institute of Directors found almost one third of UK firms are looking at relocating their head office overseas. I’m not an economist, but this would almost certainly have a huge negative impact on the UK economy and remove the hub of many businesses from the UK.

Security

To quote Edwin Starr, “War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing…”

Strong trading partners don’t end up in armed conflict. Since the establishment of the EU, the importance of such close economic ties between members has prevented any internal conflicts. I think it’s fair to infer that withdrawing from the EU increases the likelihood of the UK being engaged in potentially avoidable conflicts by reducing the economic deterrent that has existed for so long. I can see no justification for taking this kind of risk.

Legitimacy of the referendum

A referendum should be a demonstration of positive democracy in action. However, a referendum only works if the voting population is properly informed. It is clear that the voting population were misled on what the implications and complications of Brexit would be, I feel confident in stating this, as almost 3 years later, it is still unclear what Brexit will mean – there was certainly no consideration of a ‘hard brexit’, ‘soft brexit’ or ‘no-deal brexit’ prior to the referendum. From this perspective, it really does seem the original Brexit referendum was a negligent act, asking people to vote on something with no clear guidance on the outcome of it, isn’t a reasonable thing to do.

Where is the upside?

Lastly, where are the benefits to the people of the UK? So far the only groups I can see benefiting are the legal teams trying to negotiate the Brexit deal, and the management consultants advising businesses how to mitigate the risks of Brexit. For the vast majority of UK citizens it appears they will not be better off. Many imported goods and services are likely to be more expensive due to additional duties and taxes, and UK exporters will likely face similar barriers selling into the EU. The key benefits being purported by those who wished to leave are the monetary costs of EU membership and control of borders/immigration. At this stage it seems almost certain that the economic damage Brexit will do (and has done so far) to the UK will far outweigh the costs of membership. As for controls on immigration, I can understand that people might like to limit immigration, but the reality is immigration has a significant net benefit to the UK. For example, the majority of the hospitality industry is staffed by EU immigrants, doing jobs that few UK citizens choose to do. Similarly, in the UK’s beloved NHS, 10% of hospital Doctors are from other EU countries. The UK needs these people.

In our view, the UK has a lot to lose, and very little to gain from Brexit, so we’re hoping some UK politicians see sense and call a halt to the whole debacle.

The views expressed in this article are those of Empire Engineering