Brexit will be damaging for the UK whatever the outcome, says Airbus chief
File photo dated 16/7/2017 of an Airbus A380 on display at the Farnborough International Airshow in Hampshire. The aerospace firm has warned it could pull out of the UK with the loss of thousands of jobs in the event of a "no-deal" Brexit. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Friday June 22, 2018. The firm, which employs 14,000 people at 25 sites across the country, said it would "reconsider its investments in the UK, and its long-term footprint in the country" if Britain crashed out of the single market and customs union without a transition agreement. See PA story POLITICS Brexit Airbus. Photo credit should read: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire
By Neil Lancefield, Press Association Transport Correspondent
The Government has "no clue" how to execute Brexit, the boss of Airbus has warned.
Tom Enders, chief executive of the European plane manufacturer, claimed the UK's withdrawal from the EU will be "damaging for the UK".
He told a press conference in London: "The sun is shining brightly on the UK, the English team is progressing towards the final, the RAF is preparing to celebrate its centenary and HMG (Her Majesty's Government) still has no clue, no consensus on how to execute Brexit without severe harm."
Airbus, which employs 15,000 people across 15 UK sites, has previously warned it could leave the UK if there is no transition deal.
Mr Enders said: "Rest assured we are taking first preparations as we speak in order to be able to mitigate consequences from whatever Brexit scenario may follow."
He added: "Make no mistake - Brexit, in whatever form, soft or hard, light or clean or whatever you call it, will be damaging for the industry, for our industry, for other industries and damaging for the UK whatever the outcome will be."
Pic by Andrew Matthews/PA Wire
