More than three years on from the EU Referendum, and there’s STILL no solution to the Brexit situation - fiasco - nightmare, or whatever you want to call it.
Unless there are dramatic changes to the impasse that’s already caused damage and closures for businesses up and down the country, we are still not going to know for some time whether we will get a deal, no deal, no Brexit at all, or something else entirely.
While we’ve heard plenty of noise coming from ‘anti-elite’ politicians like Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson who say a no-deal Brexit wouldn’t be all that bad, and that it’s ‘what Leavers voted for’ (did they?), there’s been a concerning dearth of reassurance from businesspeople.
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In fact, there's been quite the opposite, and as well as July starting with the 海角视频 economy suffering its first quarterly contraction in seven years, we also heard Vauxhall’s alarming Brexit warning over its new Astra model.
The car giant, which employs around 1,000 people down the road in Ellesmere Port, said while it wants to make its next Astra model in the North West, - and, more specifically, it will only do so if we avoid no deal.
So, what did our prospective Tory candidates for Prime Minister (at the time of writing at least) do to reassure us these jobs would not be lost? Did they pledge to fight tooth and nail for our hard-working car industry employees? Do all they can to ensure the jobs in the North are protected come what may?
Nope.
Just a few days later, Jeremy Hunt, the so-called ‘softer Brexit’ candidate said live on national TV that he’d be willing to tell businesses that had gone bust in the face of a no-deal that their sacrifice had been worth it.
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As a reminder, our other candidate, Mr Johnson, is previously reported to have said ‘f*** business’.
So, are you feeling reassured?
Make 海角视频’s chief economist seems to have put it pretty well in June that a no-deal would be the “height of economic lunacy”, but even if that is what we must face, it is imperative we find out our fate - and soon.
If crashing out without an EU deal is going to happen, then businesses - from small to multinational - can at least make those preparations and have as much time as they can to mitigate the totally unnecessary incoming damage anticipated by many.
Business gets ready for Brexit
That’s not to say by any means that’s what people and businesses in the North West actually want - quite the contrary, in fact. It would, most probably, be disastrous.
So it is absolutely vital that, from July 23, the day the winner of the Tory leadership race is announced, not a single day is wasted by our new PM in preparing for our departure - or whatever happens next.
If there is a deal that can be struck with the EU that is acceptable to Parliament - which many rightly doubt - then it must be quickly researched, proposed, thrashed out, and finalised.
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For Labour and the other opposition parties, it’s beholden upon them to make any potential moves, be it a vote of no confidence in the Government or otherwise, also as soon as possible, as these will only cause further uncertainty and damage.
It’s discouraging, therefore, that MPs voted for their summer recess to last from July 25 until the beginning of September, meaning the new Prime Minister could spend six weeks in Number 10 without having to answer to parliament - all this in what looks to be the most pivotal 15 weeks in our country’s recent political history.
Who knows what Mr Johnson or Mr Hunt might have done by the time they return from their jollies after summer?
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Tom Houghton is the North West Business Editor for BusinessLive and Reach plc titles.
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We know for sure our region’s business leaders wouldn’t opt for a six-week holiday if their organisation faced such a crucial period.
So to finish then, I make a plea to our nation’s political decision makers for the coming months.
Scrap your long holiday, do whatever you can to get Brexit sorted (or cancelled, if need be), avoid no deal, and, in doing so, help pull Liverpool, the North West and the entire country out of this needless, godforsaken mess.