Let's quit EU unless we get a better deal: Legal & General boss delivers Brussels blast

Dr Nigel Wilson says UK economy is focusing too much on Europe



He is first boss of a FTSE 100 company to publicly suggest quitting EU

Intervention suggests growing disquiet with Brussels among big firms



The boss of one of the UK’s biggest companies has said Britain should leave the European Union if it cannot renegotiate a better deal with Brussels.

Dr Nigel Wilson, chief executive of insurance giant Legal & General, became the first boss of a FTSE 100 company to publicly suggest quitting the EU.

He said the UK economy is ‘underachieving’ by focusing too much on Europe rather than faster growing markets.

UK economy 'underachieving': Dr Nigel Wilson (pictured), chief executive of insurance giant Legal & General, became the first boss of a FTSE 100 company to publicly suggest quitting the EU

He told the Mail: ‘Leaving the EU would not be as disastrous a scenario as some people have painted it as.

‘If we get a terrible deal we should stay out. I see the world as a huge opportunity for the UK but we are underachieving by concentrating on Europe, which is growing too slowly. This will not lead to economic growth in the UK.’

Legal & General is also a major investor in infrastructure projects. Dr Wilson yesterday complained that his firm has wasted £150million on complying with one European directive called Solvency II, which is making it more expensive for insurance companies to invest in infrastructure.

Last night he received the backing of another influential business leader.

Disquiet with Brussels: Simon Wolfson (left), boss of Next, and Phones4U’s John Caudwell (right) are among a string of high-profile figures who have called for less intervention from Brussels

Peter Hargreaves, billionaire co-founder of investment and pensions firm Hargreaves Lansdown, said the UK should quit the EU whether a better deal is thrashed out or not.

'I see the world as a huge opportunity for the UK but we are underachieving by concentrating on Europe, which is growing too slowly' Dr Nigel Wilson, Legal & General

He said businesses are hampered by ‘stupid regulations dreamed up by bureaucrats’.

The intervention suggests growing disquiet with Brussels among big business. Simon Wolfson, boss of Next, and Phones4U’s John Caudwell are among a string of high-profile figures who have called for less intervention from Brussels

But they have stopped short of suggesting the UK should leave the European Union.



Speech: Boris Johnson has stressed that the best option for Britain would be to stay within a 'reformed' EU

In a speech yesterday, Boris Johnson said the UK would thrive outside the EU and should be prepared to leave the bloc if David Cameron fails to win sufficient changes to the way it operates.

'Being outside with limited influence could leave us at the back of the queue for signing good quality trade deals with major economies and also hamper our access to the EU market itself' John Cridland, CBI

But he stressed that the best option for Britain would be to stay within a ‘reformed’ EU.

Mr Cameron has pledged a referendum on membership by the end of 2017 if he wins the general election next May.

But John Cridland, director-general of the CBI, described the EU as the ‘launchpad for us to break into new growth markets outside Europe’.