Theresa May’s Long Awaited ‘Dear John’ Letter

So finally, the fuse was lit yesterday when Sir Tim Barrow personally handed European Council President Donald Tusk a letter confirming the UK’s desire to move on and away from the EU.

LEO’s blog isn’t about politics and nor should it be and regardless of any views and opinions that I might have, the UK needs to take advantage of the situation whatever or however that might be. So, let’s focus on the upside and continue promoting innovations and innovators across the world to a global audience.

So, the imperative should be on how Brexit might impact upon UK innovators but we will know, hopefully more over the next few months. A White Paper will be published today (Thursday) outlining how the UK Government sees Brexit in terms of the objectives and processes being achieved. Apparently, the white paper will explain how some of the EU regulations will be repealed and thus ‘freeing the private sector’.

The Potential Impact upon the Innovation Economy

The Prime Minister recently Informed Parliament that she sees the UK as “a magnet for international talent and a home to the pioneers and innovators who will shape the world ahead.” The EU lags behind the U.S. in innovation, according to the Centre for European Reform (CER), because the EU lacks the “creative destruction” of a more entrepreneurial economy. (source: Action Institute)

The Chancellor, Philip Hammond committed to spending some £550 million in the last budget towards the development of disruptive technologies that have the potential to transform the UK economy.

According to Rebecca Emerson, UK Head of international management consultancy Oliver Wyman,

“Once the UK has left the EU, there will considerably greater scope to set industrial policy in line with our own interests. In particular, the UK will not be subject to EU state aid rules, giving the UK government greater latitude in how it directs it resources”.

It is all too easy to dwell on the negative (depending on your opinion of Brexit), but the decision has been made, it needs to be accepted, executed quickly and hope to achieve a ‘win-win’ outcome. The key is to ensure that all parties are by and large satisfied. How it will pan out, we’ll only know in the long run. In the meantime, to coin the phrase that often used on tea-towels, mugs and generally the typical Brits’ view of life, is to ‘keep calm and carry on.’