Financier Guy Hands, co-founder and chair of Terra Firma Capital Partners and a long-time Conservative supporter, stated on Monday that the UK economy is “frankly doomed” unless the Conservatives choose a leader who “has the intellectual capability and the authority to renegotiate Brexit.”
Hands added that the country risks IMF bailout if it fails to modify its withdrawal arrangements from the European Union.
“Mistakes made in the last six years have put this country on a path to be the sick man of Europe,” said Hands on BBC’s Today show, adding that the current Brexit deal is “completely hopeless.”
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The investment banker, who voted Remain in the 2016 referendum, claimed that the current Brexit arrangement was only possible because of “extreme Thatcherism” of low taxes and low benefits, for which “the British people have never voted or shown any willingness to vote.”
When asked if the Conservatives are fit to run the country, Hands–a known Tory donor–said “no.”
His comments come on the heels of the Conservatives electing its new party leader and the country’s newest prime minister, Rishi Sunak. He is replacing Liz Truss who resigned after a short 45-day tenure.
Digging deeper into the matter, Hands argued that his gloomy prediction on Brexit’s effect “is being played out in full,” including “high taxes, social unrest, strikes, low productivity and poor social services.”
“It is going to take a very brave Conservative leader to tell the truth to the electorate and admit that they were lied to and that Brexit was really about introducing a radical libertarian right-wing agenda, one which was only ever going to help the ultra-rich,” Hands wrote. “Consequently, the Conservative Party is now stuck justifying the many lies of the Vote Leave campaign in 2016.”
In his view, a renegotiation on the Brexit deal is a must first step to “a positive alternative to the disastrous direction that the Conservative Party has taken Britain and itself in over the last six years.”
“The first thing would be to admit that Brexit negotiations were a complete disaster. As the world has changed since 2016, the party has the perfect excuse to change direction and renegotiate a revised Brexit along the lines of Norway or Switzerland’s relationships with the EU,” Hands added.
He punctuated that this renegotiation will require a prime leader with integrity and huge diplomatic skills. But once it’s done timely, the recourse may set the country on the road to recovery, and even a Conservative triumph in the next election.
Information for this briefing was found via Bloomberg, The New Statesman, and BBC. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
