THE warnings to Theresa May from British businesses to get a grip on the Brexit negotiations have come thick and fast over the last few days.

On Friday, Airbus, which employs 14,000 people at 25 sites across the UK, said it could pull out of the country if there is a no-deal Brexit, describing such a situation as “catastrophic” for the aerospace industry.

The firm said it had been trying to raise its concerns about where the negotiations are heading for the past year without success. Katherine Bennett, Airbus’s senior vice president in the UK, stressed the idea of the company leaving these shores was no “idle threat”.

Today, the North-East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) revealed it has similar concerns about the lack of clarity from the Government about its position on Brexit.

Chief executive James Ramsbotham has written to Theresa May to flag up the potential damage being done to businesses in the region by the ongoing uncertainty, and says the Government is failing to address their concerns despite the best efforts of the region’s MPs .

The messages from Airbus and the NECC are strikingly – and worryingly – similar.

While the Conservative Party once again wrangles internally over Europe, external voices are excluded from the debate.

The Prime Minister and her Cabinet need to stop arguing and start listening to the warnings from industry about the perils of walking away from the EU without a trade deal – time is running out to secure it.