LONDON — British and European businesses are sounding increasingly urgent warnings about the economic damage the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union could cause, as the kingdom’s two biggest political parties acknowledged Wednesday that they remain deeply divided over post-Brexit trade and customs arrangements.
Britain is due to leave the European Union on March 29, 2019, and the bloc is frustrated with what it sees as a lack of firm proposals from the United Kingdom about future relations.
Prime Minister Theresa May declined to say Wednesday when the government would publish a promised document setting out its negotiating position.
May’s Conservative government is split between ministers who favor a clean-break and those who want to keep closely aligned to the European Union.
‘‘We have a Cabinet that is completely and totally divided so there is no plan for what the negotiating position is going to be,’’ pro-EU Conservative lawmaker Anna Soubry said. ‘‘You may think that is a pretty shabby and shocking state of affairs. That is the reality.’’
Labour Party Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer acknowledged that ‘‘there are very divided views’’ among the opposition party’s lawmakers over whether Britain should try to remain in the EU’s single market.
‘‘I wish I could report complete unity,’’ Starmer said. ‘‘But we are not in that position.’’
Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is calling for the United Kingdom to have ‘‘full access’’ to the single market. Critics say that is vague, and EU leaders have repeatedly said Britain can’t have the benefits of membership without the responsibilities.
More wrangling is guaranteed when the government’s key piece of Brexit legislation returns to the House of Commons next week. Parliament’s upper chamber, the House of Lords, has inserted amendments to soften the terms of departure and keep the UK economy aligned with the bloc’s.
Amid the indecision, British and European businesses say uncertainty is hurting and they urgently need to know what future trade arrangements will be.
Benoit Rochet, deputy chief executive officer at the Port of Calais, told British lawmakers on Tuesday: ‘‘We know that there is Brexit, but we don’t exactly know what Brexit means.’’
