UK firms not happy with Brexit progress rate

Bloomberg

With their anxiety spiraling over Brexit, Britain’s business leaders weren’t impressed by the pitch from the Conservative premier— or the Labour leader who wants her job.
“The way that they’re managing the economy right now, the Conservative Party is a shambles,” Advanced Computer Software Group Chief Executive Officer Gordon Wilson said in an interview. As for opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, while “he’s seriously polished up his act in the last 12 months,” he’s a “still a Marxist” and “Labour’s ideology about public services is at the expense of fiscal prudence.”
Interviews with 15 executives at the annual conference of the Confederation of British Industry in London echoed the view the country is heading into hazardous waters without a paddle. The Tories, the traditional defender of free markets, are riven by divisions over Brexit, while Labour are led by an old-school Socialist who spent decades on the party fringes and has long been suspicious of business—a suspicion that’s mutual.
Britain’s economy is already struggling among its counterparts and the Brexit shock—the country will exit the European Union in March 2019—has yet to hit. The outlines of their future relationship have yet to emerge.
Prime Minister Theresa May told delegates she’s trying to get agreement soon with the EU that an implementation period will follow Britain’s scheduled departure from the bloc, but that the details of that period would have to be negotiated later. That’s a problem for many who heard it.
“The longer that time goes on without the details, the less happy we will all be dealing with just the concept,” said Peter Wall, chairman of a UK company.
Clarity on the Brexit transition period matters because CBI survey data show that some 10 percent of companies have started implementing their plans for a “no-deal scenario” on Brexit. By March, that will rise to 60 percent. It’s the latest in a steady stream of warning signs that companies aren’t happy with the rate of progress in the
exit negotiations.
“Business and industry need a much greater level of clarity in terms of where this is likely to end up in terms of the final outcome and the timescale,” said Peter Ward, CEO of the UK Warehousing Association, a logistics industry trade group. “We’re just continually drifting.”
Stephen Kelly is the CEO of Sage Group Plc—one of the country’s biggest tech companies—and he is looking for “strong political leadership and a government that can point businesses towards the new opportunities of global trade in a post-Brexit era.” He wants politicians “to get back on the pitch and start setting the tone with a more positive story.”
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said that Brexit is the biggest determinant of the UK economic outlook. Companies are holding back investment decisions as they wait to find out how Brexit will pan out. Banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and UBS AG are preparing to move workers to mainland Europe.
Of executives surveyed by Bloomberg, nine said PM May’s
Conservatives had the best offering for business—including on Brexit—while six said neither party was an attractive option. None chose Labour.

London rewrites customs laws
Bloomberg

Theresa May’s ministers took the first steps to delivering their promise to make the UK a global trading nation after Brexit, setting out customs and trade laws that will come into force when the country quits the EU.
A key priority will be new powers to help the UK keep hold of 40 existing trade deals that the EU has with other countries when it ceases to be a member of the club. “For the first time in over 40 years the UK will be able to shape our own trade and investment agenda,” International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said. “We are determined that businesses and consumers can take advantage of this opportunity from the day we leave the EU.”
The UK is set to leave the EU single market and customs union in 2019 but wants a customs agreement with no tariffs on trade with the bloc of 27 remaining member states. A new trade bill includes new measures to allow the UK to replicate the trade agreements that the EU has negotiated with other countries, while a draft customs act will allow the government to create a “standalone customs regime” and set its own rates of value added tax, customs duty on goods.