Airbus has called the UK government’s handling of Brexit a “disgrace” and warned the aerospace firm could pull out of the UK if the country crashes out of the EU without a deal.
In a video message released on Thursday, Tom Enders, its chief executive, said that if there was a no-deal Brexit, Airbus would have to make “potentially very harmful decisions for the UK”.
He added: “Please don’t listen to the Brexiteers’ madness, which asserts that because we have huge plants here we will not move and we will always be here. They are wrong.”
The European aerospace group is one of the biggest manufacturers in the UK, where it employs more than 14,000 people. A further 110,000 supply-chain jobs depend on its operations, which have an annual turnover of £6bn.
Stephen Barclay, the Brexit secretary, said he took the warning “very seriously”.
He told parliament: “What the chief executive and others in the business community are clear on is that they want a deal to avoid the uncertainty of no deal and that is why he is backing the prime minister.”
Enders called for a pragmatic withdrawal agreement that allowed for an orderly Brexit. Airbus had previously backed Theresa May’s proposed deal, which failed to get a parliamentary majority.
The Airbus warning was another blow for the government in a week in which Sir James Dyson, the Brexit-backing billionaire, announced plans to shift his company HQ from Wiltshire to Singapore and Sony confirmed it was moving its European HQ from London to Amsterdam.
Enders said: “Of course it’s not possible to pick up and move our large UK factories to other parts of the world immediately. However, aerospace is a long-term business and we could be forced to redirect future investments in the event of a no-deal Brexit and, make no mistake, there are plenty of countries out there who would love to build the wings for Airbus aircraft.”
A no-deal #Brexit will lead to @Airbus making “potentially very harmful decisions for [its operations in] the UK”, says Airbus CEO Tom Enders.
— Airbus In The UK (@AirbusintheUK) January 24, 2019
➡️Watch Tom Enders’ message: https://t.co/Ahb6NHJTyx pic.twitter.com/UZJzYcgS8H
His comments followed previous warnings that Airbus was considering abandoning plans to build new wings in the UK, which would mean thousands of job losses.
Wings for its range of commercial aircraft are manufactured in Broughton, north Wales, where it employees 6,000 people. Broughton produces more than 1,000 wings a year and even has a football team nicknamed the Wingmakers, who play in the Cymru Alliance League.
Airbus’s design and engineering site in Filton, Bristol, employs 3,000. Darren Jones, the Labour MP for Bristol North West, tweeted:
Devastating honesty from @Airbus on risk of Brexit to one of the UKs key industries. The Governments position is a “disgrace” and “don’t listen to the Brexiteers’ madness...that we will not move and we will always be here. They are wrong.” @peoplesvote_uk https://t.co/cyVhMCadkO
— Darren Jones MP (@darrenpjones) January 24, 2019
Ben Bradshaw, the Labour MP for Exeter, tweeted: “Good for @Airbus, telling it as it is. We need more business leaders to be honest & truthful about #BrexitShambles. Why it’s vital parliament blocks a crash out no-deal #Brexit next week.”
David Lammy, the Labour MP for Tottenham and a remain advocate, tweeted: “Airbus has warned it could move wing-building out of the UK because of Brexit. There is no clearer imagery for this national project of self-harm than this. Wings clipped, we will be isolated and alone.”
Enders said the UK’s aerospace industry stood “at a precipice”. He added: “In a global economy the UK no longer has the capability to go it alone. Brexit is threatening to destroy a century of development based on education, research and human capital.”
Unite, Britain’s largest union, said ministers and MPs must stop gambling with the future of UK workers by taking “no deal” off the table.
The Unite assistant general secretary, Steve Turner, said: “Tens of thousands of decent well-paid skilled jobs that support families and represent the backbone of communities across the country are caught in the crossfire of a no-deal face-off which could deny future generations the hope and opportunity of high-quality, well-paid apprenticeships into skilled work.”
Airbus workers have their say
Employees at the Broughton plant have expressed concern after the warning from the aerospace firm that wing-building could be moved out of the UK in the event of a no-deal-Brexit.
Andrew Wilson, 60, who has been working at the plant for 10 years, said of Enders’ remarks: “If he truly cares about Britain he shouldn’t be saying things like that – threatening thousands of people’s jobs.
“Do you know how hard it would be to move all of the stuff in this plant elsewhere?”
Another employee, a cleaner who works at the firm through a contractor, said she found the news very concerning. “That would be a massive blow; that’s so many thousands of people’s jobs,” she said.
“I don’t know what’s happening with Brexit at the moment but if we leave without a deal I assume it is going to be bad for people’s jobs and businesses.”
Last June, Airbus said it was considering cutting thousands of jobs in the UK in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
A fitter who works at Airbus and had just left a meeting after Enders’ warning, disagreed with the CEO, describing the situation as “fine”.
He said: “Obviously there are a lot more powerful people in control of the situation than us but we’ve been told there’s nothing to immediately worry about.
“We’ve got orders for up to the next 20, 30 years, so I can’t see them actually closing this place.”