UK manufacturers urge PM May to drop threat of no Brexit deal

Britain’s manufacturers told Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday to drop her threat that she might take the country out of the European Union without a new trade deal, saying they would bear the brunt of trade barriers with the EU.

May plans to trigger the two-year Brexit process on Wednesday and she has warned the other 27 EU countries that no deal would be better than a bad deal.

“The idea of being able to walk away empty-handed might be a negotiating tactic, but it would in reality deliver a risky and expensive blow,” Terry Scuoler, chief executive of EEF, Britain’s manufacturing lobby, said.