'Fanciful' to suggest Brexit not part of Honda decision

Britain's former ambassador to Japan has said it's "fanciful" to think Honda's decision to close its plant in the United Kingdom had nothing to do with Brexit.

Honda announced on Tuesday that it would close its Swindon manufacturing plant in 2021, bringing with it the direct loss of 3,500 jobs.

The Japanese automaker cited "unprecedented changes" in the automotive industry and said it was "not a Brexit-related issue for us".

Speaking to the Guardian, David Warren, the British ambassador to Japan from 2008 to 2012, said: "The idea that Brexit uncertainty is irrelevant to this is fanciful. How are Honda supposed to calculate the costs and benefits of staying in the UK in the overall global context against such lack of clarity on the future terms of trade?"

Warren said Brexit supporters who seized on Honda's statement that the decision was not down to Brexit were missing the point, highlighting that with five weeks to go to the Brexit deadline, the UK was yet to confirm whether it would leave the EU without a deal.

He added that the Japanese government would be "privately conscious of the danger of the massively important UK-Japan trade and investment relationship – and other foreign direct investment – being held hostage by an internal debate within the Conservative party that it is proving difficult to resolve".

The Japanese government has become increasingly vocal in recent weeks about the damage a no-deal Brexit would cause, while a number of big Japanese corporations have announced restructures.

The Japanese foreign minister, Taro Kono, said on Tuesday that it was "absolutely necessary" for the UK to avoid crashing out of the European Union without a deal.

The Honda decision comes after a series of car manufacturers including Nissan and Jaguar Land Rover have announced plans to either cut UK jobs or shift production to other countries.

Like Nissan, Honda stands to benefit from a new trade deal between the EU and Japan, which gives tariff-free access to European markets by 2027.

In a column for the Guardian, former Labour government cabinet minister and EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson said a resolution of the uncertainty around the Brexit process is urgently needed.

He said British Prime Minister Theresa May's proposed deal purposely obscures the conditions under which businesses and investors will be operating in post-Brexit Britain.

Mandelson said: "If we leave the EU at the end of March on her terms, the exact same argument will simply begin all over again on April 1: whether we are going to be close to or distant from the EU, aligned or not with single market rules, in a customs union or not, assuming control of our policies or becoming an EU regulatory satellite, and whether we are going to have an independent trade policy or not."

Contact the writer at jonathan@mail.chinadailyuk.com