British business leaders demand ‘people’s vote’ on Brexit deal
Over 70 City grandees including the former chairmen of Lloyd’s of London and Standard Chartered have joined calls for a “people’s vote” on the final Brexit deal between the UK and the European Union.
Ahead of the launch of ‘Business for a People’s Vote’, a new campaign group, the group warned in a letter published by the Sunday Times that a lack of clarity over a deal risked bringing about that would be “bad for business and bad for working people”.
The letter’s signatories include former BT chairman Sir Mike Rake, chief executive of Waterstones James Daunt, Lastminute.com founder Martha Lane Fox, co-founder of Innocent Drinks Richard Reed. and the former chief executive of Sainsbury’s Justin King.
Their letter says: “The business community was promised that, if the country voted to leave, there would continue to be frictionless trade with the EU and the certainty about future relations that we need to invest for the long term.”
They warned about the options currently on the table, including Theresa May’s signature Chequers deal, which has been met with rejection by both the EU and the right of her own party.
“Despite the Prime Minister’s best efforts, the proposals being discussed by the Government and the European Commission fall far short of this, and they are not nearly as good as the current deal we have inside the EU,” said the business leaders. “The uncertainty over the past two years has already led to a slump in investment, which will make our country poorer.”
They joined growing calls for a People’s Vote – the name campaigners have given to a second referendum in which voters would be asked to give their approval to whatever final deal the Prime Minister is able to reach with European negotiators.
“We are now facing either a blindfold or a destructive hard Brexit,” the letter said. “Both these options will further depress investment. They will be bad for business and bad for working people. Given that neither was on the ballot in 2016, we believe the ultimate choice should be handed back to the public with a People’s Vote.”
Last month, an estimated 700,000 people marched through London to call for a second referendum. May’s government has ruled out a second vote, claiming it would be undemocratic.
A spokesperson for the Department for Exiting the European Union said: “The people of the United Kingdom have already had their say in one of the biggest democratic exercises this country has ever seen and the Prime Minister has made it clear that there is not going to be a second referendum.”
“We remain confident we will agree a mutually advantageous deal with the EU that works for business and the economy.”
Pro-Brexit campaign group Leave Means Leave criticised the call for a new vote.
Its chair John Longworth, the former director general of the Chambers of Commerce, called it a “ludicrous contradiction”.
“It is indeed true that the past two years of prevarication and uncertainty has made it difficult for a few businesses to plan and to adapt in readiness for new circumstances,” he said. “Yet the idea that calling a second referendum would somehow change this, when in fact it would lead to a more divided country, even greater confusion and a far weakened negotiating arm, is clearly a ludicrous contradiction”
“Had the Prime Minister been clear from the start and pursued a simple free trade deal or was determined to leave the EU without a deal to allow the UK to be the sole determinant of its destiny, the nation would have had two years to prepare for a clean and business-friendly break.”