The Chancellor is calling for a “reset” in relations with the European Union but does Reeves want EU trade ties to weather a Trump trade war?
The BBC is reporting that Rachel Reeves wants to boost economic growth by fostering closer relations with the EU, in yet another sign that the Labour Party considers Brexit to have been a costly failure.
There are no plans to rejoin the EU, we’re told – and this is probably because the UK would come in as a junior partner, having lost all the privileges it had built up since originally joining in the 1970s.
But there could be a push to remove the “huge regulatory and paperwork burdens” that the Tories foisted on businesses that trade with the EU after Brexit. Ironically, Brexiteers had claimed that leaving the bloc would lead to a “bonfire of red tape”; in fact, they buried our businesses under a mountain of it.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
Why the sudden interest, though? Could it be because incoming US President Donald Trump is threatening to crash the world’s economy with a trade war?
He is threatening to impose tariffs of up to 20 per cent on all goods imported into the United States.
Economist Richard Murphy has an idea about Trump’s reasons for this:
So it seems Trump wants to crash the world economy in order to trigger a “quantitative easing” bailout that will hugely inflate the value of assets owned by people who are already enormously rich, while harming the world’s poor people – possibly to death, in some parts of the world.
If Reeves is looking for a way to discourage him from trying this – or to insulate the UK against the possibility that he will – then her move is to be welcomed.
But you can be sure that Brexiteers and Trump supporters (Nigel Farage?) will squeal like the pigs they resemble* in a bid to influence the gullible. Let’s hope they get short shrift.
*With apologies to pig-lovers everywhere; you know the comparison I am making so please don’t come back with tiresome “you’re being unfair to pigs” comment.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
Does Reeves want EU trade ties to weather a Trump trade war?
The Chancellor is calling for a “reset” in relations with the European Union but does Reeves want EU trade ties to weather a Trump trade war?
The BBC is reporting that Rachel Reeves wants to boost economic growth by fostering closer relations with the EU, in yet another sign that the Labour Party considers Brexit to have been a costly failure.
There are no plans to rejoin the EU, we’re told – and this is probably because the UK would come in as a junior partner, having lost all the privileges it had built up since originally joining in the 1970s.
But there could be a push to remove the “huge regulatory and paperwork burdens” that the Tories foisted on businesses that trade with the EU after Brexit. Ironically, Brexiteers had claimed that leaving the bloc would lead to a “bonfire of red tape”; in fact, they buried our businesses under a mountain of it.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
Why the sudden interest, though? Could it be because incoming US President Donald Trump is threatening to crash the world’s economy with a trade war?
He is threatening to impose tariffs of up to 20 per cent on all goods imported into the United States.
Economist Richard Murphy has an idea about Trump’s reasons for this:
So it seems Trump wants to crash the world economy in order to trigger a “quantitative easing” bailout that will hugely inflate the value of assets owned by people who are already enormously rich, while harming the world’s poor people – possibly to death, in some parts of the world.
If Reeves is looking for a way to discourage him from trying this – or to insulate the UK against the possibility that he will – then her move is to be welcomed.
But you can be sure that Brexiteers and Trump supporters (Nigel Farage?) will squeal like the pigs they resemble* in a bid to influence the gullible. Let’s hope they get short shrift.
*With apologies to pig-lovers everywhere; you know the comparison I am making so please don’t come back with tiresome “you’re being unfair to pigs” comment.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
you might also like
More mistakes in the script? Correcting Cameron’s New Year speech
Divisions in Coalition as MPs demand independent inquiry on poverty
Osborne’s bid to end democracy by the back door