JPMorgan chief shuts down Remainers for rejoicing over 'soft' Brexit
Stephanie Flanders, chief market strategist for the UK and Europe at JPMorgan Asset Management, told Bloomberg Theresa May had her reasons for adopting a hard line with the bloc ahead of divorce talks. She said: “We’ve got clarity on the Government perhaps for a while but no clarity at all on the position on Brexit. “Theresa May has herself said that she’s still planning on... what we would consider quite a hard form of Brexit. “There are a lot of voices calling for a more measured position.
GETTY • BLOOMBERG Stephanie Flanders warned against rejoicing over 'soft' Brexit too early
“I think what we are going to discover though is there were reasons why she’d taken that harder position.” Ms Flanders said the bloc had on several occasions warned they were not prepared to allow the UK to cherrypick a deal and ‘soft’ Brexit might not be a credible option. She continued: “Because that middle way between being in the EU and being completely out where you get the advantages of the single market or at least the customs union but not the disadvantages, the Europeans have often suggested they weren’t really willing to give that to the UK. “So although many who were concerned about the economic impact on the UK of Brexit might be feeling a bit more optimistic at this talk of a softer Brexit, we have to wait and see whether that turns out to be a credible option.”
We have to wait and see whether that turns out to be a credible option Stephanie Flanders
It comes as Labour MEP Mary Honeyball told France24 people were confused and the mandate for Brexit is not holding up after the UK General Election. She said: “Everyone wants to see national unity, it’s difficult to argue with it. "But I think Britain at the moment is very far from united. In fact, I think people are very confused. “The result of the referendum does not seem to be holding because recent opinion polls have shown there is a majority of people now who wish they had voted differently. “That is an important matter. The country is very confused obviously, otherwise, we would not have had the election result we did have.”
May meets Juncker and Barnier at Number 10 Wed, April 26, 2017 Theresa May hosted European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and chief negotiator Michel Barnier at Downing Street for the first face-to-face talks since she triggered the two-year process of withdrawing from the EU Play slideshow PA 1 of 7 Prime Minister Theresa May greets European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker ahead of a working dinner at 10 Downing Street, London