Toyota:- a Letter from our Chairman to the Derby Telegraph

Sir,

Back in 2000 Derby City Council issued a leaflet to businesses entitled ” New Century, New Currency” , telling us that the euro currency was coming and we had jolly well better get ready for it.

At the same time, the most senior management in Toyota was telling us that they would not invest another penny in Britain if we did not adopt the euro. So did Mr Dyson, the vacuum cleaner manufacturer.

Other colleagues and I wrote respectfully to Mr Toyoda in Japan, pointing out that his esteemed company did a great deal,of trade with China. Yet, as far as we knew, he was not advocating political union between Japan and the People’s Republic of China to help him sell his motor cars there. We have written to the company several times since along similar lines.

Mr Dyson (now Sir James) has long since recanted his view and thinks we could prosper outside the EU,  so I have removed his company from our household embargo list and will have pleasure in doing the same for Toyota, now the company has withdrawn its support for Britain’s ever closer political union under the government of the EU Commission.

It would be nice to think that our letters played some small part in this decision. However, I think it is more likely that other considerations prevailed. It used to be thought that Britain and its motor manufacturers needed to be in the EU to be at the ” top table” where regulations were made.

This is no longer the case. Whilst regulations governing motor cars come to us via EU Directives, they are not made in Brussels any more. The EU Commission is merely the conveyor belt for global regulation made elsewhere – in this case by UNECE ( The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) which is based in Geneva.

Our EU membership actually keeps us off that top table. Yet independent Norway with no car makers is represented there. Little Norway actually chairs the division of the world food standards body Codex Alimentarius which deals with fish – and this is the organisation which tells the EU what to do in that respect.

For twenty years now the EU has been legally bound to accept global standards, made by bodies like UNECE, the World Trade Organisation ( WTO) and others. Again Britain is not represented there. Our representation has been outsourced to the EU where we are only one voice among twenty eight and have to do as the Commission decides in its ” common position”

Yours faithfully

Edward Spalton