This statement from the boss of Nissan sums up the mess we’re in
A sign for Nissan. The Japanese firm, which employs about 8,000 in the UK, has warned that a hard Brexit will have "serious implications" for the carmaker's Sunderland factory. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire - Credit: PA
Nissan has spoken out about the risk of a 'no deal' Brexit - but the company's boss fears their warning won't be heard.
The car manufacturer warned that a hard Brexit will have 'serious implications' for the carmaker's Sunderland factory.
It said in a statement: 'As a sudden change from those rules to the rules of the WTO will have serious implications for British industry, we urge UK and EU negotiators to work collaboratively towards an orderly balanced Brexit that will continue to encourage mutually beneficial trade.
'Since 1986, the UK has been a production base for Nissan in Europe. Our British-based research and development and design teams support the development of products made in Sunderland, specifically for the European market.'
MORE: Brexit will leave my community in Sunderland even more disenfranchised
However comments from Carlos Ghosn, the company's chief executive, was the most revealing when he spoke at the Paris Motor Show.
You may also want to watch:
He said: 'We are preparing for the worst, but I do not want to tell you how we are preparing because you will say I am trying to scare people.'
James O'Brien said this was the perfect example of the political climate we now find ourselves in.
Most Read
- 1 Nigel Farage loses nearly 50,000 followers after Twitter suspends QAnon accounts
- 2 Michel Barnier tells UK to be 'very careful' in Brexit diplomatic status row
- 3 Fifteen ways to fix Britain
- 4 This chumocracy is costing our country
- 5 Holyrood in talks with EU to extend Erasmus scheme to Scottish students
- 6 Independent SAGE adviser gives scathing assessment of Priti Patel's £800 Covid fines
- 7 Susanna Reid takes on Priti Patel over government's gaslighting of public on coronavirus
- 8 Bob Geldof takes swipe at No 10 saying 'lying is second nature' to them
- 9 An actor whose politics were a touchy subject
- 10 Brexiteer says he'd never have voted for Brexit 'if we knew we'd lose our jobs'
'This is the closest to perfect that I've been able to find. That's what our false notion of balance on Brexit coverage has done. That's what the British media has done.
'It has essentially created an environment in which a massive employer decides it's not even worth talking in public any more because he knows that when he has finished explaining how Nissan is doing, the BBC and other media outlets will turn to some absolute sugarpuff like Jacob Rees-Mogg or Nadine Dorries and ask them to offer up the 'balanced' position.
'So you end up creating the environment in which the chief executive of Nissan won't even bother telling us what's going on at Nissan because he knows that he'll have some halfwit on the other side of the studio shouting 'Project Fear'.
MORE: Dorries: The Irish border issue 'does not exist'
'Wow. And still, this won't move the needle for anyone listening to this programme. That's the head of Nissan, but you know better, right?'
The statement from Nissan comes as several multinational firms pull jobs and operations out of the UK, amid growing concern over the government's protracted negotiations and a no-deal scenario.
Planemaker Airbus warned in June it could quit the UK if Britain leaves without a trade deal, while several banks have moved staff and trading units to the EU.
Japanese firms have been among the most vocal when expressing fears over Brexit, with Panasonic the latest to announce plans to shift its European headquarters out of the UK.
It is thought there are 879 Japanese companies employing 142,000 staff in Britain, including Honda and Nissan.
MORE: Comedian schools Boris Johnson on Northern Ireland for showing 'monumental ignorance'
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.