'The Remoaners want ALARMISM' Lord Jones insists Brexit is not about being 'anti-Europe'
A FORMER Trade Minister has called on the UK to ignore the “alarmism” being fanned by “Remoaners” in the lead up to the triggering of Article 50 on Wednesday.
Lord Digby Jones reassures Europeans they are still welcome
Digby Jones, who once served as the director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said Brexit was not about being “anti-Europe”.
Speaking to BBC News, he said it was about the Government being able to decide who can come into the UK and not Brussels.
He said: “The big message to get out of tomorrow and this big massive thing is I don’t think much is going to change, to be honest.
Lord Jones dismissed concerns surrounding Brexit
Expert: There is no plan to deal with post-Brexit UK economy
Remoaners fan it because they want alarmism and what we need to say is, this is just about one thing – the UK Government telling people who comes into this country, not Brussels
“There’s a lot of alarmism, if I may say, the media fan it and also the Remoaners fan it because they want alarmism and what we need to say is, this is just about one thing – the UK Government telling people who comes into this country, not Brussels. That’s all this is about.
“So if the UK Government says ‘we need more people in hospitality’ why wouldn’t we take them from Europe? It’s not about [being] anti-Europe.”
He then reassured people from within the EU they were “as welcome as you always were” along with those from outside the trading bloc.
Theresa May is set to trigger Article 50 on Wednesday
Lord Jones said: “If you’re watching this and you’re from Romania or you’re from Poland or if you’re from Germany, you're just going to be as welcome as you always were.
“The difference is that if you come from India or you come from Canada or New Zealand, you’re equally standing in the Government’s appraisal of fishing in a world of talent – as opposed to just the EU of talent.
“Now to do that, we’ve got to get rid of this idea that it’s armageddon tomorrow morning and we’re all going to have 'death of the first born' by Friday and instead what we have to do is fish in the whole reservoir of talent.”
The comments come after leading investment manager Alberto Gallo insisted Britain was likely to suffer a series of economic shocks with Brussels poised to force a “bad” deal on the nation.
He added: "There's a lot of uncertainty and there is the impression, we have the impression, there is no real economic and political plan to deal with a post-Brexit UK economy.”