Richard Branson Urges Brexit Opponents to Stand Firm Against Latest Deal

(Bloomberg) -- Billionaire U.K. entrepreneur Richard Branson said opponents of Brexit should hold out for a second referendum and not be seduced into backing Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s revised deal with the European Union.

Concern about avoiding a no-deal split combined with a sense of fatigue surrounding the Brexit debate more than three years after the original vote to quit the bloc risks eroding political and public opposition to the schism, the Virgin Group founder said Wednesday in an interview.

“There is a danger that people are so fed up with it that they choose the deal on offer as the lesser of two evils,” Branson said on a Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. flight to Tel Aviv. “I can see why, but by far the best thing for the British economy and jobs would be another referendum.” In the event of a new poll a majority would most likely choose to reverse the 2016 decision, he predicted.

At a press conference in Israel, Branson later described Brexit as the worst thing to happen to Britain and Europe since World War II. Returning to the EU fold would safeguard growth and employment and “send the pound roaring back up,” he said.

Branson said Virgin Atlantic has already been impacted by Brexit as a result of the decline in the pound, which has eaten into margins since a major component of costs -- including fuel and planes -- is dollar-denominated.

Britons are also traveling less as sterling’s purchasing power is reduced, while the Virgin Money banking arm has seen a contraction in business, Branson said.

Johnson was forced by U.K. law to request a Brexit extension on Saturday after he failed to win the backing of lawmakers in time for the U.K. to leave as planned on Oct. 31. On Tuesday, Johnson won approval in the House of Commons for the general principles of his Brexit deal -- the first time the lower chamber has signaled it will vote for an agreement to take the U.K. out of the EU. But Parliament rejected his accelerated timetable for pushing the legislation through Parliament in time for the current deadline at the end of the month.

Branson confirmed that his Virgin Galactic space-launch venture will hold an initial public offering in New York on Monday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Jasper in London at cjasper@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, Benedikt Kammel

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