BUSINESS organisation, the CBI, has today written to every MP in the region urging them to find a Brexit deal that works for Yorkshire.

Director-General Carolyn Fairbairn has released her letter as MPs go back to Westminster and re-start the Brexit debates in Parliament.

The CBI believes that the message from Yorkshire and the Humber is clear: preparing for a no deal is sensible, but it is vital that politicians dedicate as much effort to striking a deal as preparing for failure. There is no such thing as a no deal outcome without negative consequences for jobs and growth.

The CBI has also raised the alarm for small business, saying that while big businesses have spent millions preparing many smaller firms do not have the spare cash to try and mitigate the effects with so much Brexit uncertainty.

In the letter to MPs Dame Carolyn says: "Relative to the rest of the UK, Yorkshire and the Humber would fare worse in a no deal scenario. Real GVA in Yorkshire and the Humber – a measure of the value of goods and services produced in the region - could be £12 billion lower by 2034, compared to if the EU-UK relationship remained the same. This is equivalent to annual public spending on health, including all hospitals, GP surgeries and emergency health services."

Commenting on the letter, CBI regional director for Yorkshire and the Humber, Beckie Hart said: “It’s sensible to prepare for no deal, and the CBI has hundreds of recommendations for how that can be done in the most effective way for the economy.

"Preparations of both business and Government might mitigate some of the short-term damage of no deal. We are urging MPs in Yorkshire and the Humber to back a Brexit deal that is good for our region.

“Large businesses have done, and are doing, everything they can to prepare for no deal. They have spent billions of pounds on getting ready. But the simple fact is that small businesses do not have the resource to understand what no deal means, let alone mitigate the consequences.

“Businesses have noticed and welcome the significant step change in government investment and energy. The CBI is supporting them in those endeavours."