TELEGRAPH COMPLAINS UK BEING FORCED OUR OF GALILEO

The Telegraph was at the forefront of the leave campaign, telling us the EU is finished and we have to leave lest we be dragged down with it, they are now complaining the EU is "pushing us out of the space race" (HERE) claiming they want to cancel "Galileo" contracts with UK companies after 2019. Galileo is the new European satellite navigation system.

It all looks totally pathetic. What did The Telegraph think would happen?  They said we had to "take back control" but are now complaining we are being forced out of something we wanted to remain in. How the Europeans must be laughing at us.

LLOYDS CHOOSE BRUSSELS

Just a day after Article 50 was invoked, Lloyd's of London says it will establish a new European subsidiary in Brussels to avoid losing business when the UK leaves the EU (HERE).

The 329-year-old insurance market confirmed the plan as it released its latest annual results.

"A subsidiary office will be opened in Brussels with the intention that it will be operational for the January 1 renewal season in 2019," it said.  Apparently just 100 jobs will go, but this is 100 highly paid jobs that won't be paying tax here.

ELECTRIC MINIS TO BE MADE IN GERMANY POST BREXIT?

BMW are said to be considering where to make an electric version of the mini (HERE) and normally I would expect it to be in this country but it appears that Brexit may have added quite a bit of uncertainty and it may now be made in Germany or even in Holland where some minis are made at the moment.  Or it may be that BMW are playing the same game as Nissan and making threats to obtain more support in one way or another.

JOBS RUSH TO IRELAND

The Irish Times (HERE) carries a report that Stephen Kelly, chief executive of campaigning organisation Manufacturing Northern Ireland, has told a House of Commons committee that UK companies were registering in Ireland as hedges “against worst-case scenarios, if they develop”.

He claims 100,000 UK companies have registered entities in Ireland since the Brexit vote, some beginning at 8:00 am on the 24th June. This is not jobs but companies. How many jobs might be lost is anybody's guess.

Prosper like never before!

EMPLOYMENT LAW FIASCO

One of the reasons cited for voting to leave the EU was because of excessive regulation. I think Priti Patel, in the campaign, suggested there should be a halving of regulations (HERE). The then employment minister a prominent Tory Brexiter, called them a burden and would like to cut them by 50%. 

Boris Johnson said it was “very disappointing” that Britain had not made “changes to employment law”, complaining that we “need to weigh in on all that stuff, all that social chapter stuff”.

Now Brexit Central has a piece (HERE) saying the government will protect all our employment rights and adding that:

Indeed, our employment rights often go beyond what is required by EU law. For example, British women can have up to 52 weeks of maternity leave and 39 weeks of pay, not just the 14 weeks proscribed [sic] by the EU. Our Parliament decided that parental leave can be shared by the father, progress that the EU is too scared to contemplate. British workers are entitled to at least 5.6 weeks of holiday, more than the four weeks set by Brussels.

So, there we have it. It isn't the EU that is responsible for burdening us with employment regulations, we did it all by ourselves. This just demonstrates the stupidity of the leave vote. The EU set out regulations, we adopt them but add conditions way beyond what is necessary, then blame the EU for over regulating us. Amazing

TOYOTA CONSIDERING HOW TO SURVIVE AFTER BREXIT

Toyota (HERE) have said they are now going to consider, along with their suppliers, how they can survive in the UK after the prime minister outlined her plan to take the UK out of the single market and the customs union. We don't yet know the terms of the deal with Nissan but it looks like the taxpayer may be saddled with a big bill!

What Jaguar Land Rover and BMW are thinking or planning we don't yet know.

Update: Nissan have now said they would "re-evaluate" their investment in the UK if competitiveness is adversely impacted by the terms of the deal (HERE). So perhaps the bill will will be even bigger. And Hitachi are suggesting their plant may also be affected when it begins to export after 2019 (HERE).

Update: Now Airbus are suggesting that brexit has put Britain's aerospace industry "in a dangerous place" (HERE).

BANKS ANNOUNCE MOVES

Banks are now beginning to announce staff transfers into the EU (HERE). While this will not result in London losing its status as Europe's leading financial centre, it will weaken it and strengthen Frankfurt and Paris. Tax revenue from these highly paid jobs will go to exchequers in Europe and not to The Treasury. So, we will lose.

And while only a couple of banks have said they will mover operations so far, Goldman Sachs are considering moving 3000 jobs to Frankfurt  (HERE) and others are bound to follow. I wonder if brexiteers can see writing beginning to appear on the wall.

Update: Poland is trying to attract 30,000 jobs away from the UK after brexit (HERE).

LLOYDS BANK TO SET UP UNIT IN THE EU

After Lloyds of London insurance brokers we now learn that Lloyds banks is to create a separate unit somewhere in the EU in order to maintain access to the single market (HERE).  I think we can take it as read that they won't be the last.

The London-based lender is targeting either Germany or the Netherlands for the unit, according to the Financial Times.  It is this sort of news that might, just might start some people beginning to realise that brexit holds no good news for our future and they may think again about leaving.

MANUFACTURING OUTPUT DROPS

UK Manufacturing showed an unexpected 0.9% drop in October (HERE) compared to the anticipated 0.2% increase. This was the biggest decline since February. Industrial production fell 1.3% led by a slide in the oil and gas sector.

I think also the fall in investment that we have seen will increasingly feed through into manufacturing output figures next year.

BANKS LIKELY TO BEGIN RELOCATION NEXT YEAR

The BBC have carried out an investigation into all the talk of banks and financial institutions moving some operations into the EU in order to continue trading inside the single market. Newsnight had the report last night including an interview with the a French financial regulator.  The BBC news website has the story (HERE).

Of course this is something the brexiteers told us would never happen. Well now it seems it might.

The regulator says he is in advanced discussions with "large international banks" about moving to Paris including due diligence work. He says many other companies had made informal enquiries and he thought the same things were happening in up to eight other European financial centres. This is not to say everyone will move or even that those who do will move everything, but the sector produced £71.4 billion for the exchequer in 2015-16 (HERE) so even a 10% drop in revenues is going to be painful. 

ARE THE REASONS FOR BREXIT BECOMING CLEAR

Jacob Rees Mogg (HERE) is saying that after Brexit we can slash environmental and safety standards "a very long way". So it looks like the main objective for Mr Rees Mogg is to make Britain the sweatshop capital of the world and if a workers have to suffer a few accidents and ill health this is all OK.

Germany, France, Italy, Holland, Belgium are all more productive than we are inside the EU and apparently weighed down with all those expensive environmental and safety regulations. They are 20-30% more productive and instead of addressing the real problems, his answer is to try and close the gap by cutting standards. It won't work.

JOHN LONGWORTH

The former head of the CBI John Longworth, an enthusiastic leave campaigner has an item in the conservative home blog (HERE) where he talks about the "wreckers and Remainers" bringing "mendacious" court cases. 

He says, "Brexit provides Britain with an unparalleled opportunity to crystallise the taking-back of control of our own affairs, and then to open up the potentially huge economic benefits that will arise from a clean and early exit from the EU. Yet deeply-in-denial Remainers will stop at nothing in their attempts to at best delay or water down Brexit – and, at worst, to stop it entirely".

Racing towards the cliff edge, Mr Longworth rages against anybody whose foot might look as if it's hovering anywhere near the brakes. If anyone is in denial it is him.

BREXIT UNCERTAINTY AND GERMAN CARS

The chief of Germany's Automotive Industry Association (HERE) says uncertainty surrounding brexit could do damage to German investment in the UK where they have about 100 plants.  The BBC story about it is HERE.

Warning that the government was at a crossroads and had to decide soon which direction to take, Wissmann told the BBC: “We need, relatively soon, a clear answer … Will we have tariff and non-tariff barriers between Britain on the one hand and the European Union?”

Trade barriers would mean “a long period of uncertainties that will block future investments in Britain, and that makes me really concerned”, he said. “I hope that the British government … decides to go for the single market and not for any other regime which would need years to discuss and negotiate.”

UNEMPLOYMENT DROPS AGAIN

This week's unemployment figures show another fall, defying predictions that it would begin to rise (HERE) but the ONS warns that the growth in employment is slowing and there was actually a rise in the number of people claiming job seekers allowance.

Reuters take on it is HERE

J P MORGAN NOW IN DOWNING STREET

One of Wall Street's top bankers has urged ‎Philip Hammond to ensure a long transition period for the UK's exit from the European Union amid warnings about "cliff-edge" disruption to financial markets (HERE).

Sky News has revealed that Jamie Dimon, the chairman and chief executive of JP Morgan, met ‎the Chancellor in Downing Street on Thursday, months after warning that Brexit could force him to move up to 4,000 jobs out of the UK. One wonders which company is going to be next for support and reassurance!

THE SLOW DEATH OF THE CAR INDUSTRY

The UK car industry is facing death by a thousand cuts according to The Guardian (HERE).

The UK industry faces the threat of gradual decline should foreign carmakers overlook the UK when choosing where to build a new model or factory according to Mike Hawes, chief executive of the trade body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

He said the recent decision by Japanese carmaker Nissan to invest more in its Sunderland plant was encouraging for the broader industry, but said the UK was in a constant battle to attract and retain investment. He told a House of Lords select committee that any impact on the UK car industry from Brexit would be slow-burning.

“It’s never going to be immediate. You wouldn’t wake up on 24 June [the day after the referendum] and say ‘OK, that’s the end of Sunderland’. But what you would see is a gradual reduction,” 

FRANCE AFTER OUR JOBS

Bloomberg is reporting that France has set up a "one stop shop" for UK companies wanting to relocate to France (HERE).

The initiative is the latest push by Britain’s neighbor, ally and historic rival to compete for jobs and investment in the wake of the U.K. referendum. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, flanked Thursday by Paris region head Valerie Pecresse, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and Safran SA Chairman Ross McInnes, sought to counter France’s reputation for high taxes and heavy regulation.

“France is changing,” Valls said at a press conference in the French capital, adding that the corporate tax rate will fall to the European average of 28 percent by 2020 and vaunting the payroll tax credits introduced under President Francois Hollande. “I’m convinced that we’re moving in the right direction,” he said.

The Independent has a similar story (HERE)

J P MORGAN NOW IN DOWNING STREET

One of Wall Street's top bankers has urged ‎Philip Hammond to ensure a long transition period for the UK's exit from the European Union amid warnings about "cliff-edge" disruption to financial markets (HERE).

Sky News has revealed that Jamie Dimon, the chairman and chief executive of JP Morgan, met ‎the Chancellor in Downing Street on Thursday (10th November) months after warning that Brexit could force him to move up to 4,000 jobs out of the UK.

One wonders which company is next!

UK TO LEAD THE WORLD ON FREE TRADE

Theresa May is claiming after Brexit we will lead the world and be the most passionate and convincing advocate of free trade (HERE).

Before the vote, Patrick Minford from Economists for Brexit wrote a piece for The Sun (HERE) where he advocated free trade and said the effect would be that BMWs and Brie would be cheaper although I don't believe there are any tariffs on either at the moment so it's hard to see how they would be cheaper.  However, in the article he also said:

Over time, if we left the EU, it seems likely that we would mostly eliminate manufacturing, leaving mainly industries such as design, marketing and hi-tech. But this shouldn’t scare us.

Let us hope Mrs May explains this to the workers in manufacturing before she becomes the most passionate and convincing advocate of free trade.

BANKS PREPARE TO RELOCATE

Anthony Browne, head of the British Bankers’ Association, claims (HERE) that some smaller banks are preparing to relocate into Europe before the end of this year, with larger banks set to follow in the first quarter of next year. If anyone is in a position to know it must be Mr Browne.

He puts this down to uncertainty over Brexit and also says the equivalence regime is no substitute for passporting rights, no matter what the Brexiteers say.

Bloomberg are reporting in today's newsletter that a property company managed by Schroders Plc is bidding for an office building in Frankfurt, joining CBRE Global Investors LLC and Standard Life Plc, which are seeking to purchase office space in cities from Dublin to Amsterdam.