13th March 2019

London/New York – In response to tonight’s votes in the House of Commons, which saw The House reject a ‘No-Deal’ Brexit, Duncan Edwards, BAB CEO, said:

“The prospect of leaving the EU without a deal on 29 March has caused significant uncertainty to our members and has resulted in major irreversible expenditure. We welcome this narrow win in the commons, even though it is only advisory and the legal position remains that the UK is leaving the EU on March 29th with or without a deal.

While this is a step in the right direction, it does not provide a solution and the certainty that business craves and, for this reason, we continue to support the Withdrawal Agreement as negotiated, including the transition period it provides. There is still time for this to be approved.

A vote tomorrow to extend Article 50 may give more time for an agreement to be reached but without new ideas from one side or another a breakthrough continues to feel distant.”

Contact: Dominic Parker, Communications Manager dparker@babinc.org | 020 7290 9882