‘Not the Brexit I wanted’ says Next boss – but what did Lord Wolfson expect?

Wolfson says he wanted an open, free-trading Britain post-Brexit. But many Brexit backers made it quite clear they wanted the drawbridge pulled up, writes James Moore

Lord Wolfson, boss of retail giant Next (PA)

I think in respect of immigration, it’s definitely not the Brexit that I wanted or indeed many of people who voted Brexit wanted.” So said the Brexiteer Next boss and Tory peer Simon Wolfson.

Forgive us, but exactly what was it he was expecting from Brexit? He is not stupid, far from it; he is one of Britain’s sharpest businessmen, running a highly successful retailer in a brutally competitive sector that has seen multiple casualties among its peers.

But he sure seems to have blinded himself to the nature of the campaigning for the political outcome he supported. The official leave campaign might have distanced itself from some of the more extreme propaganda put out by the Farageists, such as the now infamous “breaking point” poster.