Businesses 'tired of being left in the dark' following rejected Brexit vote

Business groups are said to be frustrated following Theresa May’s EU withdrawal plan once again being rejected by Parliament.

There are now just over two weeks to go until Brexit, and MPs shot down the PM’s deal by 149 votes - said to be a smaller number than when it was rejected in January.

MPs will now be able to vote on whether the UK should leave the European Union with a ‘no-deal’. Failing that, Brexit could be delayed.

Linking in with businesses, the government is set to publish further details of its ‘no-deal’ Brexit plan today (March 13), which includes trade tariffs and Irish border schemes.

Stephen Phipson, chief executive of manufacturers’ group, Make UK, commented: “It is now essential that Parliament brings the curtain down on this farce and removes the risk of no deal.”

He added: “That outcome would be disastrous for the UK manufacturing, jeopardising many thousands of jobs in every constituency in the land.”

Last week, it was hinted that should the UK leave the EU with no deal in place, the UK government might cut trade tariffs on between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of goods.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said the public would have to face new tariffs, non-tariff barriers and the devalue of currency.

She said businesses are now “exasperated by the lack of clarity over their future trading arrangements.”

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