Matthew Lynn Matthew Lynn

Three reasons to walk away from a trade deal with the EU now

Just when you might have thought that our departure from the EU was finally dealt with it turns out another cliff edge is looming. We have only a year to agree a trade deal with the rest of Europe. Already there are scare stories about how we may crash out without one, and plenty of controversy about what kind of concessions we will have to make to Brussels. By the time the first tulips are flowering in the spring, Project Fear will be back up and running again. But hold on. Before we start negotiating we should ask ourselves a bigger question. Do we really want a trade deal with the EU? The answer might well be that we don’t.

Sure, of course we’d want a deal if it didn’t come with conditions attached. It would be crazy to say no. In a perfect world, we would be happy to offer the EU zero tariff access to our market in return for zero tariff access to theirs.

Matthew Lynn
Written by
Matthew Lynn
Matthew Lynn is a financial columnist and author of ‘Bust: Greece, The Euro and The Sovereign Debt Crisis’ and ‘The Long Depression: The Slump of 2008 to 2031’

Topics in this article

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in