A special kind of stupid

It seems UK has traded in its reputation for calmness for a triple helping of stupid.

It takes a special kind of stupid to claim to have to leave the world's largest free trade area, in the name of free trade. When none of the arguments stand up to any kind of scrutiny. Especially when you see that what almost any kind of Brexit is putting up barriers on trade with your biggest trading partner, and closest. Trade with the EU is more than 50% of all trade, and is done pretty frictionlessly, brought about by common regulatory recognition and shared standards.

Anything which takes any of that away will add costs and time in supply chains already lean to the point of starvation, resulting in those companies with international supply chains to stockpile parts in case of interruptions, if they continue manufacturing in the UK.

Crashing out of the EU without a deal, a real possibility from a number of different scenarios, would mean falling back on trade schedules that are currently shared with the EU, that many countries will not accept once the UK has left the EU. In both cases of UK and EU goods, meaning that trade deals totalling over 70 would have to be negotiated by both the UK and EU. The UK has been unable to negotiate with the EU, a friendly partner, a hostile one, like the US under Trump, would eat Liam Fox alive, and yet he claims that the UK can increase exports as an independent trading nation, but no real explanation on how this ambition would be achieved in the real world.

Yesterday, the UK Government seemed to announce that it would honour all 3 million EU citizens currently living in the UK as it seems the Home Secretary seems to have realised that the UK economy cannot cope without them.

Who knew?

Just anyone who looks as some basic facts, of course.

The mad thing is that although there is little over seven months before Brexit Day, which seems fine, but the EU wanted the last 6 months of that two year period for ratification, meaning, that in order for any potential withdrawal agreement to be ratified, would have to be agreed between Raab and Barnier in the next few weeks. And then the deal would have be ratified by the EU27 and EU Parliament. And the ratification would have to be unanimous, otherwise no deal. And no transition deal either.

And any hopes that the Brexiteers might have of forging close links with the US are now in peril as the investigation into Trump's election campaign begins to clse in on the White House, with news that his personal lawyer pleaded guilty to a felony of helping break election law under the direction of a candidate for federal office.

So the risks are high, but then they always have been. Not that a Brexiteer would admit that.

And for those hoping Brexit salvation in Labour and leader Jeremy Corbyn, in an interview he waffled about more about making a success of Brexit and putting trade and jobs first. And anyone knows that any kind of Brexit would make the country poorer, and his position is against that of the party membership and motions passed at last year's party conference, and so against his pledge when elected that the membership would decide on party policies.