Article 50: repercussions for contractors?

With the High Court ruling on Wednesday 3 November changing the dynamics of the Article 50 timeline, we look at the possible Brexit and political scenarios as well as the decision’s impact on the UK economy and its cohort of contractors.

The decision in the High Court has meant that parliamentary approval will now be needed for Article 50 of the Lisbon’s Treaty to be invoked. The government looks set to appeal to the Supreme Court, but whatever the outcome it seems likely that the start of the two-year process for Britain to start negotiating its exit from the EU will be delayed.

The grounds for the decision is that Britain’s EU membership under the 1972 European Communities Act falls under domestic law and not foreign policy. The government cannot therefore enforce its royal prerogative.

Whichever way the Supreme Court decides to go, MPs will have their say in determining whether the country will have a ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ Brexit, thereby directly influencing trade negotiations with the EU. Although greater transparency will be expected, if Prime Minister Theresa May does not want to provide a ‘running commentary’ on Britain’s exit strategy, then she may be forced to call an early general election to strengthen her position.

Yet despite the backdrop of further legislative change and political unrest, and quite apart from the positive reaction of the money markets, the UK economy continues to confound observers post-Brexit. The Bank of England has had to revise its growth forecasts upwards for 2017 following official data that shows the economy has continued to grow steadily since the June vote. On the employment front, there are no signs of any slowdown or reduction in job opportunities or assignments for contractors. 

Contractors plug chronic skill shortages

While the future remains uncertain for contractors and how the eventual Brexit will affect movement of labour in the EU, the process to leave will take a minimum of two years – meaning Britain will be bound by EU directives for a good while yet. If anything, the ruling should appease companies, such as financial institutions, who are threatening to up sticks and move out of the City. The recent Nissan deal, however, provided a timely boost to the economy, safeguarding thousands of jobs.

A ‘soft’ Brexit would only be beneficial for contractors, particularly in sectors such as banking with many opportunities are with global financial institutions. In other industries, blighted by chronic skill shortages, the demand for talent is likely to remain buoyant for years to come. Qualified engineering contractors, for example, continue to be highly sought after in the transport, automotive and aerospace sectors while oil and gas contractors have the transferable skills that the nuclear power and renewable energy sectors need.

Although the High Court ruling is seen by many as undermining the people’s vote, the ‘soft’ Brexit outcome could ensure that Britain comes out of future trade talks with an even better deal. That can only be good news for the contracting industry.

4 Comments

  • Mike says:

    Absolute rubbish, being part of the EU has destroyed the engineering industry, we have thousands of crap foreign born “engineers” who will work for less, rates for contractors have fallen year on year. All due to the EU factor. People blame globalisation, I say what does the EU help, globalisation… It allows a through fair for not only millions of EU (I’m talking about the polish, Romanians, etc.) To abuse our system take everything and have paid nothing in. Bring in the hard britex there will be some turmoil but in the long run (and after we deport a few million undesirables) we can focus on our own get our own children through education, make it free again to go to uni, get a decent NHS up and running not to mention the huge reduction in crime.

  • Billy J says:

    I disagree with #1 Mike’s analysis of the root cause of the decline in UK engineering and the generalisations about foreign worker’s impact on the economy. An analysis of the data and variables involved suggest that complex issues: migration and globalisation etc don’t have simple root causes nor simple ‘magic bullet’ solutions such as ‘build a wall’ etc. I appreciate we live in a post-truth political environment but felt that this lazy thinking, and prejudice (verging into a Daily Mail style racism even) exhibited by Mike ought not to go unchallenged.
    .. except to say I so very despise trolls (who are ashamed of themselves otherwise they wouldn’t be trolls obv’s) of course so hope I don’t come across as such.

  • George says:

    Couldn’t agree more with #2.

    Still can’t believe people like #1 exist, but here we are in a Brexit/Trump world …

    • Hari says:

      If immigration, population control and human quality were addressed head-on with logic when people first realized they were problems instead of building up pressure to snapping point because people are seething underneath then this whole Brexit and Trump mess could have been avoided. Liberals are indirectly killing the world slowly by refusing to address serious topics that lead to long term decline.

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