Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World

by Adam Tooze

the scenes there was an effort by the Confederation of British Industry to persuade its leading members to put warnings about Brexit in their annual reports.31 The City of London Corporation overrode objections from Brexit voices to openly support Remain.32 Some business leaders worried, somewhat squeamishly, that to spell out the job losses and the cancellation of investment projects that would likely follow on Brexit might have the air of blackmail. At least as far as the trade unions were concerned, they need not have worried. Labour MP Pat McFadden, a former government minister and cochair of the Labour Party’s Remain campaign, insisted, “I think business has a legitimate voice in the debate and if they want to make their views known they have every right to do so.”33 Unite, Britain’s biggest trade union and principal donor to the Labour party, with around 500,000 members, sent a clear message: “The message to our members in BMW, Airbus, etc., is very straightforward—it’s jobs, rights, remain.”34 The same message was echoed from around the world. On April 12 the IMF announced that “severe regional and global damage” might follow if Britain voted to leave. According to the IMF, the mere fact of holding the referendum was so damaging to investor confidence that the Fund was forced to lower its forecast for UK growth by 15 percent, from 2.2 to 1.9 percent. The consequences of an actual Brexit, Lagarde warned, ranged from “pretty bad to very, very bad.”