Daily Mail - 30.07.2019

Daily Mail, Tuesday, July 30, 2019 Page 17

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Vauxhall plant ‘may shift to Europe’

THE UK’s biggest trade union accused Boris John-

son of playing ‘No Deal roulette’ with thousands

of jobs after a French car maker threatened to

shut down its Vauxhall factory in Ellesmere Port.

Carlos Tavares, the boss of PSA Group, says it has

already found a southern Europe site to build the

Astra if Britain crashes out of the EU without a deal

and the Cheshire plant becomes unprofitable.

Closure of the North West factory would lead to

the loss of more than 1,000 jobs, striking another

crushing blow against Britain’s car industry. The

factory makes the Vauxhall Astra as well as the

Opel-branded versions sold across the Continent.

Unite’s Steve Turner said it had been in ‘positive

discussions’ with PSA about building new models

at the plant. But he said: ‘All that hard work is now

hanging by a thread as Boris Johnson and his gov-

ernment of hard Brexiteers play No Deal roulette

with the livelihoods of thousands of Vauxhall

workers and colleagues in the supply chain.’

‘We are aiming for a new deal... and

that is what I think we can achieve

with goodwill on all sides.

‘But it has been the policy of the

Government for a long time now to

prepare for No Deal and that is

what we are going to do with high

hearts and growing confidence – we

will prepare for a No Deal Brexit.

‘If our friends and partners in

Brussels will not change the with-

drawal agreement, if they will not

accommodate the will of Parlia-

ment which has said three times

now that they cannot accept the

backstop, then obviously you

would expect us to get ready and

that is what we will do.’

Analysts yesterday linked the fall

in the pound directly to growing

market concern about the possi-

bility of No Deal.

Connor Campbell, financial ana-

lyst at Spreadex, said: ‘An already

bad start turned into a full-blown

panic attack for sterling.

‘It honestly seems like Boris

Johnson’s Government is actively

chasing a No Deal Brexit, the newly

anointed Prime Minister report-

edly refusing to meet with EU lead-

ers unless the not-up-for-discus-

sion Irish backstop is scrapped.

‘Add on to this a weekend full of

headlines about ramped-up No

Deal planning, and the pound had

the fear of God put in it.’ Foreign

Secretary Dominic Raab suggested

leaving the EU without a deal

would strengthen the UK’s hand in

future trade talks with Brussels.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today pro-

gramme the EU’s ‘stubborn’ behav-

iour would be to blame if the UK

ended up leaving without a deal.

But he added: ‘The prospect of

reverting and getting a good deal

will be easier after we have left if

that is the case. The reason being

we do as an independent third

country and less subject to effec-

tively the demands of the EU as we

are now.’ The new Brexit war cabi-

Pictures: STEVE BACK/ LNP

THE pound slumped to

its lowest level for more

than two years last night

as the Government stepped

up preparations for a No

Deal Brexit.

Sterling fell to $1.22 on inter-

national currency markets and

to 1.10 euros, a drop of more

than 1.3 per cent in a day.

Boris Johnson yesterday insisted

there remained a ‘very good chance

we can get a deal’ if the EU agrees

to abandon the Irish backstop.

But Downing Street confirmed

revelations in yesterday’s Daily

Mail that the Prime Minister

has no plans to hold face-to-face

talks with EU leaders unless they

meet his precondition to tear up

Theresa May’s deal.

A No 10 spokesman said: ‘The PM

has been clear that he wants to

meet EU leaders and negotiate,

but not to sit down and be told

that the EU cannot possibly reopen

the withdrawal agreement.’

Sources also confirmed that Mr

Johnson has yet to speak to Irish

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who is

seen as critical to any hope of the

EU backing down.

Mr Johnson’s new Brexit ‘war

cabinet’ held its first formal meet-

ing in Whitehall yesterday, with

Michael Gove taking the chair

‘A full-blown panic

attack for sterling’

‘We are aiming

for a deal’

By Political Editor

while the Prime Minister visited

Scotland. But Mr Johnson risked

sowing confusion when he

appeared to contradict Mr Gove’s

assessment on No Deal.

Mr Gove said at the weekend the

Government still hoped the EU

might back down and cut a deal

but had to ‘operate on the assump-

tion they will not’.

Asked whether Mr Gove was

right to say that the Government

should work on the assumption it

was heading for No Deal, Mr John-

son said: ‘No, absolutely not. My

assumption is that we can get a

deal, we are aiming for a deal.’

No 10 insisted Mr Johnson’s com-

ments were ‘consistent with what

Michael Gove has said’.

The Prime Minister also appeared

to reiterate his assessment that

the chances of a No Deal Brexit

were ‘a million to one’ against.

Asked whether he stood by the

prediction, he replied: ‘Provided

there is sufficient goodwill and

common sense on the part of our

partners, that is exactly where I

would put the odds.’ He added:

That’s Boris’s new economic mantra

as he plans to turbo-charge Britain

On the move:

Carrie Symonds

leaves her old

home yesterday

net, known as the Exit Strategy

committee or XS, comprises six

senior ministers and will meet

twice a week.

A major advertising campaign,

reportedly costing up to £100mil-

lion, is also planned to raise public

awareness of Brexit issues.

But ministers have abandoned

proposals to send a leaflet to every

home, fearing it would be a waste

of money. Instead they will focus on

newspaper, radio and TV adverts

and campaigns on social media.

[email protected]

Pound falls

again over

fresh fears

of No Deal

... but Johnson dismisses

Gove’s ‘assumption’ that

we’ll crash out in October