Re: Polly Toynbee's Wailin' Brexit Blues Archived Message
Posted by dovetailjoint on January 31, 2019, 6:35 pm, in reply to "Re: Polly Toynbee's Wailin' Brexit Blues"
The idea that the UK is going to find better trade relations with the rest of the world, compared to being a member of the European Union, is, I think, a fantasy. The European Union is the richest and biggest market on the planet. What this means is that Europe has an awful lot to say when negotiating trade deals with others. This is pretty obvious. A fact, dare one say it? The UK, on the other hand isn't going to have anywhere near the same clout as the European Union when it attempts to negotiate overseas because the UK's economy is so much smaller than the European Union's. So, all things being equal, I fail to see how the UK is going to be in a stronger position to negotiate better trading agreements with other countries. There is nothing 'easy' about what's happening. Does it look 'easy' at the moment? And the real tough negotiations about the future trading relations with the EU haven't even started yet and will take years and years to fulfill. After half a century of closer and closer integration across Europe, with tens of thousands of contracts, how can anyone seriously believe one can untie all that just by snapping one's fingers? The people don't know best. They have opinions, but they aren't based on detailed knowledge or understanding of how the EU works or how integrated the UK's economy is with the rest of Europe. Britain is going to be poorer outside than in. It doesn't matter that the people don't want that or don't believe it, at all. Wishing something was different doesn't change things in the real world.
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