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Taro Kono has warned the Tory leadership hopefuls, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, that a failure to agree on a withdrawal bill will have “very negative” implications for the 1,000 Japanese companies operating in the UK. [...]
“Whenever we had a meeting, that was one of the major issues – please… no no-deal Brexit,” he told the BBC.
“There are over 1,000 Japanese companies operating in the United Kingdom so we are very concerned with this no-deal Brexit. That would have [a] very negative impact on their operations.
“So whoever wins, whoever becomes a new leader for the UK, [I hope] they would consider those foreign companies operating in the United Kingdom and take good care of it”.
Kono has asked both of the potential Prime Ministers to give clarity over Brexit, with neither of them so far ruling out a no-deal outcome.
He also said that Japan would be open to discussing a free-trade agreement with the UK, but did not believe it would be possible before the current Brexit date of 31 October with negotiations not possible to hold until after the UK leaves the bloc. [...]