Financial markets react badly to uncertainty, but Prime Minister David Cameron maintains that the Tory pledge for a 2017 in/out referendum on the EU will not harm the UK’s economy despite warnings from business leaders.
Speaking to business leaders at the CBI’s annual conference, Cameron claimed that the UK was securing more inward investment than the whole of the EU despite his 2017 referendum pledge.
However, businesses have warned that the uncertainty posed by a looming referendum which would have such a major impact on all aspects of business in the UK could deter them from hiring new workers or expanding their operations.
Following the example of the Scottish independence referendum in September, businesses are right to be concerned, with the majority of finance professionals recently surveyed by accountancy and recruitment group Marks Sattin, said that they believed the referendum damaged confidence in the UK economy despite the No vote.
Earlier, Labour’s business spokesman, Chuka Umunna told Radio 4’s Today programme that an in/out referendum on Britain’s EU membership was a danger to the UK economy, saying:
“I do think it is dangerous because people want us to concentrate is ensuring we get our economy going, we reform it so we it is delivering better jobs and growth. A reformed Europe is absolutely a central part of that.”
1 Comment
Hi,
“EU referendum uncertainty will damage UK economy warn business leaders”. I disagree. We see by the “Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation” meeting held in an auditorium in the U.S. embassy in Beijing the diversification of world trade. Sleeping British business leaders seem to be missing the boat.