referendum glued to the latest news and trying to divine what each fresh headline might mean for his company.
Johnson begins to speak. “Let’s get Brexit done,” he says. Killeen repeats it, shaking his head. “Let’s get Brexit done? That’s the answer for everything.” Johnson continues. The proposals are a “compromise”, he says, but “if we fail to get an agreement because of what is essentially a technical discussion on the exact nature of future customs checks when that technology is improving the whole time, then let us be in no doubt . . . about the alternative – the alternative is no-deal”.“I think that [a no-deal Brexit] is the outcome he wants,” is Killeen’s response. “It’s the outcome he’s prepared for.
“Capital will find the part of least resistance,” explains Killeen. “Businesses will stop trading across the Border. We’ll turn our back on the Border, and we’ll try and grow our business by trading internally within the UK.”He is concerned by the lack of clarity: “He’s said nothing concrete at all. It’s all bluster and bravado, with no substance. We’re not any clearer. All we know is ‘let’s get Brexit done’ is the strapline.