There is a good article (HERE) on Open Political Economy Network asking if Britain can really become the global trader that Brexiteers have promised. It makes the point that I have made several times on this blog that Germany already does it from inside the EU. Germany exports five times more than we do to China but Brexiteers think the same EU laws that are helping Germany are hampering us. It doesn't make sense does it?
As the writer notes, Brexiteers often cite the EU as an example of a protectionist bloc but seem to somehow think we can avoid the barriers that they complain about. We can't. The article notes research pointing to a huge loss of trade - 30% in the case of leaving without a deal and operating under WTO rules - which will take years to replace with other countries, if indeed we ever can.
Some of the other countries with whom we are supposed to conclude trade agreements, the writer points out, are not big. Russia for example, has an economy smaller than Spain. And South Africa's is smaller than Ireland's. Brazil has a smaller economy than Italy. So, we are giving up easy access to many excellent markets on our doorstep for poorer access to smaller, less developed ones further away. This is absolute insanity.
Larger countries like the US and China, apart from having their own issues, are much more difficult for us because they are larger and so more likely to be the dominant partner who will dictate terms we do not necessarily like.
The conclusion is we will lose trade and therefore jobs and we will become poorer.
