Thursday, July 12, 2018
Tories are abandoning business for ideological Brexit
It is funny how Tory politicians portray themselves and their party as champions of business and free markets when they are trying to raise money, but when it comes to the crunch and those same business interests start to question the Tory party's direction of travel, those same politicians are no longer interested.
According to the Independent, Jacob Rees-Mogg, who is worth a few bob, and has his own business interests, has urged the government to ignore the voice of business leaders as they have “got everything wrong in the whole of their history.”
One such business might be the London-based Somerset Capital Management, which described Brexit as a risk in a prospectus to a new fund it launched in March, and which is advising international investors to keep their money in the EU long-term. This is the city firm co-founded by Rees-Mogg, and where he still puts in a part-time shift. This fund by the way, is established in Ireland, so it will remain within the EU, irrespective of the outcome of Brexit talks.
Rees-Mogg believes that "vested interests" were colouring the views of major firms, because they want to protect themselves from tariffs on their goods. Well, yes, isn't that the whole rationale of a successful business, that they seek to maximise their profits whilst creating jobs and prosperity? Isn't the Tory Party meant to believe in that sort of thing?
The fact is that business has woken up to the existential threat that Brexit poses to their future and to the prosperity of the UK economy and they are starting to speak out. Unfortunately, those evidence-based views are just a little too inconvenient for Rees-Mogg and his fellow Brexiteers.
According to the Independent, Jacob Rees-Mogg, who is worth a few bob, and has his own business interests, has urged the government to ignore the voice of business leaders as they have “got everything wrong in the whole of their history.”
One such business might be the London-based Somerset Capital Management, which described Brexit as a risk in a prospectus to a new fund it launched in March, and which is advising international investors to keep their money in the EU long-term. This is the city firm co-founded by Rees-Mogg, and where he still puts in a part-time shift. This fund by the way, is established in Ireland, so it will remain within the EU, irrespective of the outcome of Brexit talks.
Rees-Mogg believes that "vested interests" were colouring the views of major firms, because they want to protect themselves from tariffs on their goods. Well, yes, isn't that the whole rationale of a successful business, that they seek to maximise their profits whilst creating jobs and prosperity? Isn't the Tory Party meant to believe in that sort of thing?
The fact is that business has woken up to the existential threat that Brexit poses to their future and to the prosperity of the UK economy and they are starting to speak out. Unfortunately, those evidence-based views are just a little too inconvenient for Rees-Mogg and his fellow Brexiteers.
