UK manufacturers in despair at Brexit impasse, says CBI

Total orders fall back in March as firms put off investment and stockpile goods

Britain's manufacturers are in despair at the failure of politicians to end the Brexit impasse, according to the CBI, which reported a drop in output in March as businesses cut back production.

Export order books increased among the 358 manufacturers in the survey, supported by the low level of sterling, but this was cancelled out by a decline in domestic demand to leave the industry in a weakened position ahead of a decision in parliament on Brexit.