Fixing the economic damage caused by Brexit should be the main priority for Andy Burnham as he reconsiders Labour red lines on European Union membership. The head of a major British business group made the call on Tuesday during an interview.
Shevaun Haviland, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said she welcomed the prime minister reopening Brexit battle lines despite potential uncertainty. She argued that the current trading relationship with the bloc is bad for business.
"We do think it’s right, because of what we know from the evidence of how businesses feel it’s not working," Haviland said in Norwich.
More than half of company bosses surveyed by the lobby group believe the deal negotiated by Boris Johnson in 2021 fails to help them. Companies expected the initial friction to ease over time, but that improvement never materialised.
Independent economists estimate the cost to the UK economy has reached up to £240bn. National income per head sits between six and eight percent lower than it would have been without Brexit, while the Office for Budget Responsibility projects a long-term gross domestic product hit of about four percent.
At the Labour conference in Liverpool, Burnham stated that Brexit had done more harm than good and pledged to reassess the relationship. He said this week that failing to pursue a better deal would constitute a major dereliction of duty.
Haviland spoke alongside Nova Fairbanks, chief executive of the Norfolk Chambers of Commerce, on the sidelines of a trade fair at the Norfolk Showground. The BCC plans to consult its 50,000 members, who employ more than six million workers, on options ranging from the current status to fully rejoining the EU.
"We are 10 years since the referendum," Haviland said. "The language of Brexit needs to move on. That’s gone. What businesses understand is what we had before and what we’ve got now."
Fairbanks added that even some executives who originally backed Brexit now recognise the economic harm. Companies are also facing mounting pressure from rising energy costs and effects stemming from the conflict in the Middle East.
Haviland urged Chancellor John Healey to take bold action at the upcoming budget. She dismissed suggestions of a cautious approach, calling instead for relief on energy bills, business rates, and employment taxes to help firms hire young people.
"The big test for the chancellor is to put his money where his mouth is for business at the budget," Haviland said.
