Stephen Pollard
Trump is already on record as believing that a US-UK free trade agreement will be “a very, very big deal, a very powerful deal, great for both countries and I think we will have that done very, very quickly”. And he’s not alone. Fellow Republicans such as Paul Ryan, speaker of the House of Representatives, and Senators such as Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz and Mike Lee have all backed a swift deal.
We are not after all some minnow, desperate for goodwill from the world’s largest economy. We are the fifth largest economy in the world.
Even without the other cultural ties between the US and UK there would be every reason for America – in its own interests – to want a deal in place when we leave the EU. Trade between our countries is already worth about £150billion a year. A deal to boost that benefits both of us.
Yesterday Dr Fox released a report showing the specific details of US-UK trade across each of the 435 congressional districts. That was a clever way to sell the benefits of a deal to US politicians. The report showed that more than 700,000 jobs in the US were supported by exports to the UK in 2015.
It’s a weighty report but its real weight lies in the answer it gives to the Remainiacs who keep repeating their mantra that the Government hasn’t got a clue what to do about Brexit and isn’t doing anything.
Remember the fuss last week about David Davis’s talks in Brussels with Michel Barnier, the EU’s lead negotiator? Mr Davis was pictured without documents and was then pilloried for leaving Brussels soon after the meeting.
All pure nonsense: utter rubbish spouted to try to give the idea that we are heading towards disaster. The meeting was never intended to be more than a scene setter and among the officials doing the day-today negotiations it would have been seen as bonkers had Mr Davis stayed on while they did their job – just as M Barnier also left his own negotiating team to do their job. But that was never mentioned because it didn’t suit the narrative that the Government is clueless about Brexit.
Like David Davis, Dr Fox is getting on with preparing for Brexit – and in two years’ time we will see the results.
His trip to the US also shows the silliness of those who demand that the Government spend its time attacking President Trump rather than working with him.
THE likes of London Mayor Sadiq Khan can grandstand all they like and demand we pretend that Donald Trump isn’t President – but he is whether we like it or not. Any serious government has to work with him.
Take France. There could hardly be two more opposite characters than Trump and Macron. But instead of shunning the US leader President Macron rolled out the red carpet for him and now he has President Trump’s ear.
No US-UK deal has yet been done but we are far nearer than even the most optimistic Brexiteer would have hoped.
As for Brussels they simply cannot abide the likelihood that we will get a trade deal with the US before the EU. The US-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is effectively dead – just as our own trade ties with the US are getting ready to take off to the next level.
‘Government getting us ready for Brexit’