UK’s Treasury chief says Brexit deal ‘doable’ by November
LONDON — Britain’s Treasury chief said Tuesday that striking a divorce deal with the European Union over the next two months is “doable,” while the boss of Jaguar Land Rover warned that tens of thousands of jobs could be lost if the country crashes out of the EU with no agreement.
With Brexit a little more than six months away, concerns have grown that the sides will not reach a deal because the British Parliament and the governing Conservative Party are divided on what Britain’s future relationship with the EU should be.
In that event, Jaguar Land Rover CEO Ralf Speth said a so-called “hard Brexit” could result in the “worst of times” for the U.K. He said the U.K. is the company’s “home” but that a hard Brexit would cost Jaguar Land Rover, which is owned by India’s Tata Motors, more than 1.2 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) a year.
“It’s horrifying, wiping our profit, destroying investment in the autonomous, zero-emissions (technologies) we want to share,” he told a Zero Emission Vehicle Summit in Birmingham, England.