‘No vote will overturn Brexit’
BRITAIN’S economic slowdown should not be blamed entirely on Brexit, British Trade Minister Liam Fox said yesterday after data showed the economy last year grew at its slowest since 2012.
“Clearly there are those who believe that Brexit is the only economic factor applying to the UK economy. I think you’ll find that the predicted slowdown in a number of European economies is not disconnected from the slowdown, for example, in China,” Fox said in the Swiss capital.
“The idea that Brexit is the only factor affecting the global economy is just to miss the point,” he said.
With just six weeks to go before Britain’s scheduled departure from the EU on March 29, Fox dismissed the chances of another popular vote that could overturn Brexit and he also dismissed ideas put forward by opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn.
“The chances of having a second referendum are as close to nil as I could imagine,” he said.
He said that the ideas put forward by Corbyn were “not workable”, because it was impossible to subscribe to his proposal to have a customs union with the EU while also influencing EU policy. “To pretend that you could do so is a dangerous delusion,” Fox said.
Fox was in Switzerland to sign a continuity trade deal with Swiss Economy Minister Guy Parmelin, to ensure trading relations can continue with as little disruption as possible if Britain leaves the EU on March 29 without a deal.
About 12% of Britain’s trade was currently covered by EU free trade deals, and Switzerland accounted for about a fifth of that, he said. Fox had previously said Britain would be able to roll over all of the EU’s current trade deals, but so far he has only concluded agreements with Chile, the Faroe Islands and Switzerland.
“We are confident that we will be able to maintain a very high proportion of that continuity of trade. Of course, it’s always dependent on other partners wanting to retain that continuity, too.”
Meanwhile, EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier suggested yesterday British Prime Minister Theresa May moved towards proposals on a permanent customs union with the bloc to break the impasse over the details of the looming divorce. “Something has to give,” he said.