What’s the real reason Greg Clark doesn’t like Brexit?

To those who’ve known Greg Clark for any length of time, the transformation of the mild-mannered business secretary into the Cabinet’s most fervent Remainer requires some kind of explanation. So what’s the real reason Clark finds Brexit a threat? Forget about protecting the automotive industry and manufacturing generally. The car industry is already reeling from the government’s hostile environment towards car ownership. Last year, car sales fell for the second year in a row, with diesel vehicles down 29.6 per cent. Supply was hit by testing to meet new emissions standards and demand dented by the government’s ongoing war on diesel. And there’s worse to come with Michael Gove’s air quality strategy promising increasingly tight regulation with ever diminishing returns.

Thanks to Clark, the long term outlook for manufacturing in Britain is grim. British manufacturers face among the highest energy costs in Europe. Concern about Britain’s excessive energy costs even prompted the Tories to promise, in their 2017 manifesto, to aim to have the lowest energy prices in Europe.