We are not quite panicking yet over the impending arrival of 29 March 2019 and the UK exit (or ‘Brexit’) from the European Union, but we?re certainly getting a bit edgy. You see, for the average member of the British public watching politicians floundering about like gasping fish on a riverbank, there is an increasing feeling of helplessness. Do we take the deal as offered by our flaccid government or do we go the full ?No Deal,? which effectively is like a yawning black hole of economic uncertainty.
There may be trouble ahead.
No Room For No Deal
For the motor industry time is running very short indeed. It seems to be the ?No Deal? option must be taken off the table or risk, we are told, destroying the UK automotive industry; thus risking the hundreds of thousands of jobs it supports. This at least is the view of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). ?No Deal? with the EU would have an immediate and devastating impact upon the industry, halting production, undermining competitiveness and causing irreversible and severe damage, they say. There are of course an equal number of voices that say it won?t. What is certain is that the European car industry as a whole relies upon a ?just in time? structure when it comes to the import and export of car parts and the like. Delays at national borders would fundamentally undermine just-in-time manufacturing thus stopping production, with trade tariffs adding at least £4.5 billion to industry costs, again ...