Brexit disaster latest: Nissan boss reasonably optimistic about prospects
Britain since the referendum makes most sense when you think of it in four chunks, the whole divided roughly into 40, 40, 10 and 10. This is my assessment of what it looks like, and we’ll get to the latest statement from the boss of the car manufacturer Nissan in a moment which is exercising some Remainers.
First, let’s deal with the two tens at opposite ends of the spectrum. One group are the Leave means Leave hardliners anticipating imminent betrayal of the referendum result. They are the core of the UKIP base and a few angry Tory MPs and activists who are on patrol looking for the first indication of a Theresa May sell-out. At the other extreme are the other ten percent, the Remainers, the Remainiac refuseniks sometimes dubbed by critics as Remoaners, who either cannot accept the result (which was pretty clear) or who leap on any piece of bad news and broadcast it loudly. The heart of the extremist resistance is the Stronger In press account, still sending out bleeps of bad news, like the crew of a sinking vessel lost in the middle of a tropical storm. A subset of this group is the SNP leadership, forever declaring that it is “exploring all options” to stay in the EU and, strangely, the UK, or maybe not if it ever gets round to holding the second Scottish referendum it is so afraid of losing.
In the middle are the rest of us, moderates divided roughly into two tribes. Those who voted Remain did not like the result, feel sad and even rather angry about it. They continue to think it was a bad decision. Wasn’t their vote vindicated by the action taken by the Bank of England this week? But being British, life goes on and we should obviously find a way of trading and being friendly with our neighbours. Both sides told untruths in the referendum campaign hot-house (welcome to politics). Oh, it’s time for a swim or a beer, as most people are on holiday or thinking about a holiday.
Those who voted Leave seem pretty pleased, although being British there is not much appetite for boasting about it. Our friends, neighbours, family and partners may have voted the other way. Show some respect. In addition, most leavers – while being turned off by scare stories such as Osborne’s emergency budget – never thought the short and medium term aftermath would be a breeze. The decision was about self-government, greater control of who gets into the country (quite incredible that this is regarded as somehow outlandish) and leaving the broken EU rather than the continent of Europe. The UK will leave the EU, but the outcome and deal will necessitate some compromises and reforms to secure trade and friendly relations. Life goes on. Again, it’s time for a swim or a beer, as most people are on holiday or thinking about a holiday.
Which brings me to Renault-Nissan, and the statements today made by its eminently sensible chief executive. Remember, Nissan threatened to sue the Vote Leave campaign for using its logo on leaflets during the campaign.
Now Carlos Ghosn has said the following when asked about Brexit:
“The question is what will happen to customs, trade and circulation of products. That will determine how, and how much we will invest in the UK… Most of the production out of Sunderland is exported to Europe. So obviously for us the relationship which is going to prevail between the UK and Europe is very important … So you’re going to see a period where most companies are going to be waiting to see what’s going to be the new status… We’re reasonably optimistic that at the end of the day common sense is going to prevail from both sides … [that the] UK will still continue to be a big partner of the European community.”
This can be reported in two markedly different ways:
1) The BBC headlines it as: Renault-Nissan ‘reasonably optimistic’ over Brexit
2) The Guardian goes for: Nissan warns future of UK car plant hinges on Brexit talks
They are both accurate headlines in their way, but where you sit in that 40, 40, 10, 10 split will probably decide how you see it. Whatever, an industrialist saying he is “reasonably optimistic” is hardly a portent of disaster.