Davos: Investec banking chief warns stopping Brexit would ‘corrupt democracy’
Stopping Brexit would “corrupt democracy”, the chief of banking giant Investec has warned.
Hendrik du Toit, joint chief executive of the UK-listed bank, insisted Britain must leave the EU regardless of what people in the financial sector think about the decision.
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His concerns echoed those raised by Theresa May on Monday that “social cohesion” would be damaged by another referendum on Brexit.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos today, Du Toit said: “If your people vote for something and you don’t give it to them, that will corrupt democracy. Of course you’ve got to give it to them in a responsible, sustainable way.
“A nation’s decision to vote on its own sovereignty is its right. If it makes that decision, it’s up to its leaders to implement it. Whatever we feel about it. That’s part of the democratic process.”
May is skipping the annual get-together of world leaders and leading business figures to focus on putting together a Brexit deal which will have the support of MPs.
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Du Toit argued the negotiations are at an impasse as neither the UK nor EU are being flexible enough with there respective red lines.
He said: “For a successful divorce or demerger there needs to be co-operation by all parties. If you treat it like a negotiation to the death, you’re not going to get what you need.”
Conservative MP Marcus Fysh, a member of the pro-Brexit European Research Group, welcomed the intervention from du Toit.
He said: "As business people know, uncertainty is corrosive and overturning or delaying the implementation of Brexit would extend it. The real way to support business is to reassure people that we remain confident in our democracy and people, and committed to creating in the UK the best business environment in the world."
Labour MP Ellie Reeves, a backer of the People's Vote campaign, said people would "neither forgive nor forget" if they were denied a say on the final Brexit deal: "The answer to what happened in 2016 cannot be an establishment stitch-up in which the UK ends up losing control over decisions while also being poorer.
"The answer to a crisis in democracy must always be more democracy."