UK is getting two Brexits as Shell cuts Dutch ties – The National

UK is getting two Brexits as Shell cuts Dutch ties – The National

Two emails land in my inbox, only minutes apart. One is bearing the news that Shell is to move its headquarters and tax residence to London. The other is from a friend detailing the stifling bureaucracy his family firm must cope with when dealing with the EU.

It prompts a double take. A major company choosing to dump the Netherlands and basing itself in the UK; this after Unilever took a similar path. That must be a sign of confidence in the post-Brexit economy. Meanwhile, a small business struggling under the weight of red tape caused by Brexit. It does not make sense.

To compound the point about Shell, soon after the announcement broke, Kwasi Kwarteng, the UK business and energy secretary, tweeted that the oil giant’s decision was “a clear vote of confidence in the British economy”. Analysts at Redburn, the equity research house, hailed it as “a clear post-Brexit win for the UK”.