British business leaders are to warn Theresa May against pursuing her current tilt towards a “hard Brexit” as a flash crash in the pound underscored mounting market concern about the UK government’s stance on leaving the EU.
On a day that saw sterling fall more than 6 per cent against the dollar before recovering most of its losses, a group of top executives said any UK exit from the EU without maintaining special ties to Europe’s common market should be ruled out “under any circumstances”.
In a letter to Mrs May drafted by the CBI employers group seen by the Financial Times, the executives plead with the prime minister to take companies’ views more into account, amid fears that she is sidelining business as she plots her Brexit strategy.