The boss of one of the UK’s biggest companies has said Britain should leave the European Union if it cannot renegotiate a better deal with Brussels.
Dr Nigel Wilson, chief executive of insurance giant Legal & General, became the first boss of a FTSE 100 company to publicly suggest quitting the EU. He said the UK economy is ‘underachieving’ by focusing too much on Europe rather than faster growing markets.
He told the Mail: ‘Leaving the EU would not be as disastrous a scenario as some people have painted it as.
‘If we get a terrible deal we should stay out. I see the world as a huge opportunity for the UK but we are underachieving by concentrating on Europe, which is growing too slowly. This will not lead to economic growth in the UK.’
Legal & General is also a major investor in infrastructure projects. Dr Wilson yesterday complained that his firm has wasted £150million on complying with one European directive called Solvency II, which is making it more expensive for insurance companies to invest in infrastructure.
Last night he received the backing of another influential business leader. Peter Hargreaves, billionaire co-founder of investment and pensions firm Hargreaves Lansdown, said the UK should quit the EU whether a better deal is thrashed out or not. He said businesses are hampered by ‘stupid regulations dreamed up by bureaucrats’.
The intervention suggests growing disquiet with Brussels among big business. Simon Wolfson, boss of Next, and Phones4U’s John Caudwell are among a string of high-profile figures who have called for less intervention from Brussels.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...gal-General-boss-delivers-Brussels-blast.html
The whole issue of renegotiation is a myth peddled by the political class, the major players in the EU have already said no reform is on the table, it's time to leave this soviet style empire.
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