Policy experts back UK to ‘rewrite the rules of global trade’ by signing landmark deal with the US
It’s been a torrid week for Theresa May, whose Chequers deal was mauled by European Union heads in the picturesque Austrian city of Salzburg.
Once again, a lack of a credible solution to the Irish border problem is halting progress and a defiant May has given a clear message to the EU: “The ball is now in your court.”
All in all, Britain is lurching dangerously close to a “no deal” Brexit.
The general consensus is that this would be the worst-case scenario. However, this week a group of highly-respected policy experts set out how Britain can trade its way to prosperity in the future.
The 11-strong group of US and UK think-tanks, including Institute of Economic Affairs and the Adam Smith Institute, are calling for the Government to make a trade deal with the US one of its “highest priorities” following Brexit.
However, this shouldn’t be any old trade deal, but rather one that could become the “model for how trade liberalisation can and should work in the 21st century”, they say.
Such a deal would involve scrapping nearly all tariffs, introducing free movement between the two countries for anyone with a job offer, and a mutual recognition of professional qualifications and licences.
If they follow this path, it would result in the world’s largest and fifth largest economies becoming even wealthier, they argue.
With the odds of a no deal Brexit rising almost daily, Whitehall will no doubt take some comfort in the idea that the country could trade itself to a utopian free trade future.
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