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The head of the Confederation of British Industry has called Thursday’s general election a political earthquake, but said it’s an opportunity for a different kind of Brexit in which the voice of common sense is heard.

Carolyn Fairbairn, director general of the CBI, also warned Theresa May that for businesses across the UK, particularly in Northern Ireland, a soft border in the country was fundamental.



“Clearly it was just a political earthquake last Thursday. What we saw and realised is a lot of the consensus we thought we had we actually don’t have,” Fairbairn told the Fortune Most Powerful Women International Summit in London on Tuesday.

“My biggest message is this is a time to broaden the church, listen to and work through the biggest issues. “We know we really care about the strength of our economy, about the regions of the UK growing. Don’t just be focused on London. The young turned out in their thousands, listen to that young voice.”

Fairbairn said the soft border in Ireland was “absolutely fundamental”, because it had helped understanding between people and the peace process. “I’m hoping from a business and practically human point of view that there is a commitment to that,” she said.



She added that there was much unhelpful language around Brexit ahead of the commencement of negotiations next week, such as “hard and soft” Brexit.

“We know we want access to the single market, jobs depend on it. We also know there is a dilemma we’re facing, there is real public concern around immigration. We’re also seeing companies with skills shortages, a 96% reduction in nurses applying [as revealed yesterday]. We need to open up that dilemma again and come up with ways to address the public concern.”

Asked why businesses were quiet during the referendum campaign, Fairbairn said they weren’t but their voice wasn’t heard enough. “We learnt through the referendum how strong this sense of feeling left out of prosperity and growth a lot of the country felt,” she continued. “We didn’t understand enough the concerns around immigration.”



What was needed now was “a reset”, she explained. “In terms of the migration issue, I think people were saying we want control back. Is that served by a single number, a cap? If not, let’s go back to problem solving.”



“I’ve got a fundamental confidence in common sense prevailing through all this,” Fairbairn said.

“I think nobody in this room would think the referendum campaigns were good. The information and understanding... I think we can get to a better place now, where there are more voices coming through. Universities, young people. The chips are falling a different way now and we can have a different outcome. The fact is the EU will be our trading partner for a long time and it’s an opportunity to protect our relationship.”

But she added: “Let’s be very clear, everybody I speak to in business accepts Brexit is happening. But what we don’t have is a consensus about how it’s happening.”



She stressed that there was a lot of “really fantastic stuff” going on in businesses across the country, and urged people “not get too down on ourselves in terms of the economy”, which has huge potential. “But we’ve got to get Brexit right and make sure we have access to the single market.”

