The most vocal opponents of our decision to leave the European Union have been the City and big business. For the last three years, from the CBI to the Bank of England to the FT and countless FTSE chairmen and trade groups, there have been hysterical warnings about the consequences of leaving. As Project Fear steamed forward, they were in the ship’s engine room throwing coal into the furnaces.
That was a big bet on the decision being reversed. If leaving could be made difficult enough and if the voters could be cowed into submission, there was a chance of a second referendum overturning the result.
And yet, in the wake of the general election, it is clear that gamble has been lost. Whatever else happens, we are leaving in six weeks’ time. That poses a delicate, tricky dilemma and one which even the spin-meisters behind the People’s Vote campaign might struggle with. The City establishment needs to claw back some credibility and influence. How can they do that? In truth, the only way now is to make their peace with Brexit.
But how? There are a few places they could start. The CBI looks the most compromised right now. Lord Bilimoria, its likely next president, gave a widely-shared speech in the House of Lords in March ripping into the decision to leave. Surely he is too compromised to take over now?
Likewise, its director-general Carolyn Fairbairn, aside from some complaining about Brexit, has been dismally anonymous in the role. There is no case for reappointing her when her term ends next year.
Instead, the CBI should make a bold choice and appoint one of the few pro-Brexit business leaders as president instead. James Dyson would be a great choice and so would Tim Martin from JD Wetherspoon. At the same time, it should start to at least admit there may be some upside to departing.
Likewise, the new Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey should distance himself from the referendum baggage. Mark Carney rowed back a little on the dire warnings over the likely consequences of our departure as the debate dragged on. He was a nimble political operator with a good sense of where the wind was blowing. But it was always clear the Bank thought Brexit was a catastrophe. Bailey needs to drop the Project Fear rhetoric and embrace the opportunities leaving the EU presents, as well as carving out a global role for the City outside the Single Market.
A whole series of FTSE CEOs should abandon their support for a second referendum and commit to making Brexit work. A few symbolic investments in the UK would help.
It is a long time since anyone seriously regarded the Financial Times as the voice of business. Even so, the paper’s coverage of Brexit has been a disgrace. Its opinion pages have turned into a monochrome parade of Remain clichés, while its news coverage virtually abandoned even the pretence of objectivity. On the biggest economic issue of the decade, it was on the wrong side.
It is important that the City and business have a voice the government listens to. If it doesn’t, it will be simply be ignored on every issue that matters.
Brexit was a tough issue and one with an uncertain impact on the economy. It was perfectly legitimate for business to have doubts about it.
But right now it needs to make its peace with leaving. And there are only a few weeks left to make that happen.
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