Remainers’ first response to the news that James Dyson will build his new electric car in Singapore was to accuse him of hypocrisy. Here is a man who expects others to be patriotic, goes the argument, and yet when it comes to his own interests he dumps Britain and takes his business elsewhere. But those who try to make such accusations miss the point entirely. James Dyson has never argued for a protectionist, Britain-first policy. On the contrary, he has always argued for free and open markets. He just happens to think that those markets should extend beyond the borders of Europe.
Singapore has won Dyson’s business because it offers a lower-cost location which will enable the company to compete better in international markets. Over a decade ago Dyson made the same decision with its hoovers – it shifted production to South East Asia.
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