Brexit will be ‘net negative on UK economy’ says Ryanair boss
The boss of Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, has launched a fresh attack on Brexit, describing it as “unbelievably messy” and predicting the UK would end up signing a Norway-style deal with the EU in the next 10 to 15 years under which it would pay into the bloc’s budget.
The outspoken chief executive of the Irish budget airline said over the next three to five years, the UK’s departure from the EU would be “net negative on the UK economy, no question about it”.
O’Leary said the UK’s longer term relationship with its closest trading partner depended “on what the British establishment or future UK governments do”. However, he said he believed that the UK would “in the next 10 to 15 years” strike a “trade deal with Europe, similar to Norway or Switzerland”.
“I think they will pay into a European budget, I think they will have no choice,” O’Leary said during a panel discussion at Bloomberg’s New Economy Gateway event in Ireland. “The fundamental strength of the single market, is something that is too attractive for the UK economy to be excluded from.”
The Ryanair boss said a lot would depend on “how Europe responds to Brexit”, adding: “Brexit should come as a real warning to the European Union. You need to focus on the things which improve people’s lives, which is improving the single market.”
O’Leary described the British labour market as “broken”, saying that leaving the EU had forced Ryanair to hire European and non-European workers on what he called “ludicrously” expensive visas, costing £3,000 each.
“The problem we find dealing with the [UK] government is there’s an obsession in most departments to find excuses that show where Brexit benefits,” O’Leary said. “Duty free is back on flights to and from Europe, that’s about the only
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