British business minister Sajid Javid yesterday urged companies not to panic following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union despite dire warnings of the economic consequences of the Brexit vote.
Javid said there was “no need to be panicking at all”, speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.
“Our economic fundamentals remain strong. They’re strong enough to weather any short-term market volatility,” he said, after Thursday’s vote plunged global financial markets and the value of the pound.
Javid said he would be holding a roundtable with business associations this week, with British media reporting that it was expected tomorrow.
Javid campaigned for Britain to remain in the EU and had warned during the campaign that a vote to leave could trigger a recession and 500,000 job cuts.
On Sunday, he refused to confirm the dire forecasts, saying it was time for “reassurance for businesses”.
“If we all work together we can avoid many of the things we have forecast,” he said, adding: “Let’s look at what opportunities this throws up.”
Foreign Minister Philip Hammond, who had also campaigned for Britain to stay, said there would have to be a “trade-off” with the European Union on the free movement of people if Britain wanted to remain in the single market.
“Key Leave campaigners made contradictory promises to the British people.
Now they are going to have to resolve that by explaining how they will balance the trade-off between the different things that they promised which are mutually incompatible,” he told ITV television.
“That will be hugely disappointing to many people in this country who voted Leave, but how those trade-offs are made is the key question now for the prosperity of our country,” he added.