Dr. Peter Rigney:

Regarding the germane questions, we operate in Northern Ireland also and so have another perspective. There is an awful lot of uncertainty there, particularly for food co-operatives, because there is a common pool across the border. Shorts in Belfast is the largest single private sector employer and there is a question around how it will be affected, given that it is up for sale. In Northern Ireland, the platform of workers rights that exists was not handed out by the generosity of nation state governments; most rights are there because of the European Union, including the transfer of undertakings legislation, the Organisation of Working Time Act and equality legislation. That is a given.

Is there a plan B? It is hard to say, but we have to prepare for the worst. There are few precedents for this. The only one I can think of is during the Emergency, when we trusted the goodwill of our neighbours in Britain. A namesake of the Vice Chairman, who was the secretary at the Department of Supplies, was perhaps trusted excessively.