Britain’s manufacturers told Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday to drop her threat that she might take the country out of the European Union without a new trade deal, saying they would bear the brunt of trade barriers with the EU.
May plans to trigger the two-year Brexit process on Wednesday and she has warned the other 27 EU countries that no deal would be better than a bad deal.
“The idea of being able to walk away empty-handed might be a negotiating tactic, but it would in reality deliver a risky and expensive blow,” Terry Scuoler, chief executive of EEF, Britain’s manufacturing lobby, said.