More than 70
business leaders have signed a letter to the Sunday Times calling for a public
vote on the UK's Brexit deal.
The chief
executive of Waterstones and former Sainsbury's boss Justin King are among
those saying a "destructive hard Brexit" will damage the UK economy.
A group
called Business for a People's Vote will launch on Thursday.
A Downing
Street source told Media sources the Prime Minister was clear that there would
be no new referendum.
The letter
was coordinated by The People's Vote campaign, which wants a ballot on whether
to accept the terms of the UK's departure from the European Union.
Richard
Reed, co-founder of Innocent Drinks and Martha Lane Fox, the founder of
Lastminute.com - who both campaigned for Remain - signed the letter, as did
Lord Myners, the former chairman of Marks and Spencer.
It reads:
"The business community was promised that, if the country voted to leave,
there would continue to be frictionless trade with the EU and the certainty
about future relations that we need to invest for the long term.
"Despite
the Prime Minister's best efforts, the proposals being discussed by the
government and the European Commission fall far short of this.
"The
uncertainty over the past two years has already led to a slump in
investment."
The letter
concludes: "We are now facing either a blindfold or a destructive hard
Brexit.
"Given
that neither was on the ballot in 2016, we believe the ultimate choice should
be handed back to the public with a People's Vote."
Waterstones
chief executive James Daunt told the Media: "All the paper we use is
imported. We rely on just-in-time methods and now there are multiple
uncertainties."
Prime
Minister Theresa May has said asking the public to vote again would be a
betrayal of the public's trust.
The Downing
Street source told the Media: "The Prime Minister has been clear - no
second referendum.
"We had
a people's vote, it was in June 2016."
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