UK finance minister calls for business support after Brexit

LONDON (Reuters) – British finance minister Philip Hammond will try to convince business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to continue to invest in the country after Brexit, when he addresses them later on Thursday.

“Britain is a great place to do business. And we are determined, as we leave the EU, to make sure it remains that way,” Hammond is due to tell an event hosted by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

Hammond is also flagging up 100 million pounds ($131 million) in government funding for 1,000 new doctoral research places focused on artificial intelligence for use in public hospitals, voice-recognition software and pollution monitoring.

However, British businesses are deeply concerned by the government’s refusal to rule out a ‘no deal’ Brexit which would entail lengthy delays for cross-border trade if it cannot get parliamentary support for its preferred withdrawal plan.

CBI Director-General Carolyn Fairbairn warned of “another bleak day for British business” on Monday after Prime Minister Theresa May announced little substantive change to her Brexit plans, less than a week after they suffered an historic defeat in parliament.

On Tuesday James Dyson, a billionaire Brexit supporter who revolutionized vacuum cleaners with his bagless technology, said he was moving his head office to Singapore from Britain to be closer to his company’s fastest-growing markets.

“Instead of swanning around amongst the rich in Davos, Philip Hammond should tell the prime minister to take No Deal off the table,” opposition Labour finance spokesman John McDonnell said.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.