4 ms·

That'd be equivalent to Canada choosing to end free trade with the US after 2008. It's the UKs largest aggregate trading partner by an enormous margin. They'r

by zzalpha 10y ago

That'd be equivalent to Canada choosing to end free trade with the US after 2008. It's the UKs largest aggregate trading partner by an enormous margin. They're cutting off their nose to spite their face and there will be significant economic consequences. Is more sovereignty regarding immigrantion policy, etc, worth that cost? That's not for me to judge. But please, don't try to downplay the economic turmoil this will cause.

cbeach 10y ago
I see your point but the UK is in a very different situation to Canada. The US doesn't prevent Canada from trading freely with other major world nations. While the UK remains locked within the EU, EU treaties prevent the UK from establishing its own free trade agreements with the rest of the World. This prevents the UK trading freely with large, growing English-speaking nations like Canada, the US and India. The economic costs of this are are huge.
- zzalpha 10y ago
  And conversely the UK previously benefitted from the enormous negotiating power of the EU block, an economy that every nation in the world would like to trade with (for perspective, in 2015 the UK contributed 17% of EU total GDP). In fact Canada and the EU just completed negotiations on CETA to exactly that effect, a deal the UK could have taken advantage of if it was in the EU. I contend that the economic costs of going it alone are far more profound. Though I find it classically British that they would see themselves as so important that they feel they can negotiate better trade terms than the entirety of the EU. I guess they just can't shake off the feeling that they should be a superpower, if only someone would notice! ;) ;) ;)
  - AstralStorm 10y ago
    I like the final sentence. In order to be a superpower, you wouldn't need anyone to take notice. It would be apparent and obvious.
  - cbeach 10y ago
    The agility of the UK to negotiate trade deals is far higher than that of the EU, where any one of the 28 nations is able to veto the deal. TTIP, a case in point. And as Trump has made clear, post-Brexit, the UK is now at the front of the queue. We're the World's fifth largest economy. We originated the language and many of the standards that the World uses to trade. We're not pretending to be a superpower, but we do have a reasonable chance at striking up free trade deals with all the Commonwealth countries. Especially as the Commonwealth was our own creation.

by zzalpha 10y ago

cbeach 10y ago

I see your point but the UK is in a very different situation to Canada. The US doesn't prevent Canada from trading freely with other major world nations. While the UK remains locked within the EU, EU treaties prevent the UK from establishing its own free trade agreements with the rest of the World. This prevents the UK trading freely with large, growing English-speaking nations like Canada, the US and India. The economic costs of this are are huge.

zzalpha 10y ago
And conversely the UK previously benefitted from the enormous negotiating power of the EU block, an economy that every nation in the world would like to trade with (for perspective, in 2015 the UK contributed 17% of EU total GDP). In fact Canada and the EU just completed negotiations on CETA to exactly that effect, a deal the UK could have taken advantage of if it was in the EU. I contend that the economic costs of going it alone are far more profound. Though I find it classically British that they would see themselves as so important that they feel they can negotiate better trade terms than the entirety of the EU. I guess they just can't shake off the feeling that they should be a superpower, if only someone would notice! ;) ;) ;)
- AstralStorm 10y ago
  I like the final sentence. In order to be a superpower, you wouldn't need anyone to take notice. It would be apparent and obvious.
- cbeach 10y ago
  The agility of the UK to negotiate trade deals is far higher than that of the EU, where any one of the 28 nations is able to veto the deal. TTIP, a case in point. And as Trump has made clear, post-Brexit, the UK is now at the front of the queue. We're the World's fifth largest economy. We originated the language and many of the standards that the World uses to trade. We're not pretending to be a superpower, but we do have a reasonable chance at striking up free trade deals with all the Commonwealth countries. Especially as the Commonwealth was our own creation.