Peter Foster is now firmly at The Financial Times and has an article described as a scoop about the UK pushing back against the Withdrawal Agreement's provisions on Geographical Indicators or what Foster calls regional trademarks. Read it HERE (no£). This is stuff like Parma ham, Champagne or Edam cheese and so on. The push back makes absolutely no sense to me because, as David Henig is quoted as saying, this is the number one ask by the EU in all their trade negotiations. They are not going to budge anyway.
What is it we want? Who is pressing the government to relax GI provisions anyway? The article suggests that the current protections could be open to legal challenge, for instance from British food and drink producers. Really? We have just as much to lose on stuff like Scotch Whisky, or Cheddar cheese, so I would be surprised if this is what the food and drink industry want.
Foster later tweeted a link to the article and when it was suggested as perhaps a cover to provoke a no deal exit, he commented:
Maybe. But like, seriously, why would you do that, at this point? Political and economic bandwidth - and public tolerance for self-inflicted pain as we exit economic shock worse potentially than Great Depression may be limited. Open goal for Starmer.— Peter Foster (@pmdfoster) April 3, 2020
As Foster points out, at the end of the year we may be dragging ourselves out of an economic shock potentially worse than the great depression of the 1930s. We might need the EU more than we think. Why burn bridges you don't need to?
This comes after we learned last week that Britain is also playing silly buggers by refusing an EU request to have an office in Belfast to oversee the implementation of the NI protocol. Brussels is entitled to monitor the customs checks but won't have a base to work from. It smacks of being awkward for awkward's sake.
Foster's article also mentions several other areas where we are seeking something closer to membership, perhaps in a sign we are starting to recognise the damage Brexit will cause:
"With the talks hobbled by the pandemic, significant gaps remain between the two sides, with the UK only submitting a partial set of draft treaty texts. The British texts cover issues such as trade, aviation and nuclear co-operation.
"UK demands so far include mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) for manufacturing practices for medicines, which EU negotiators have in the past ruled out.
"Other UK requests include a New Zealand-style veterinary agreement to smooth the flow of agricultural products and a highly flexible approach to so-called “rules of origin” governing the manufacturing content of goods.
"Both are understood to have had a negative response from the EU’s negotiating team, headed by chief negotiator Michel Barnier, much to the frustration of British negotiators."
We do not look like the proud, liberated and confident nation Johnson would prefer us to portray. We rather look weak, resentful, argumentative and fragmented as we wave our 'sovereignty' like a regimental banner to disguise a growing realisation we have made a huge mistake.
It seems as if the government's entire strategy consists of provocations on trivial issues in order to upset the EU to the point where they might respond clumsily, building resentment among Brexit voters at the margins to create a sense of national struggle against a sworn enemy. I hope Brussels diplomacy won't give them satisfaction on that.
Andy Verity, the BBC's economics correspondent also thinks we could be headed for a depression even greater than the 30s. The IHS Markitt purchasing manager's index (PMI) has dropped to a hair raising 36. Anything below 50 means the economy is shrinking. Verity says:
"And what is most extraordinary is that, from one perspective, that awful-sounding thing is a success for government policy. By ordering shutdowns to try and save lives, our government and others around the world have also ordered a reduction in economic activity unprecedented in its speed and depth. They have required, instructed and requested a huge recession - and they have got one."
Actually, they have already required, instructed and requested a second huge recession. This is of course the one planned for next year, otherwise known as Brexit. Can any government survive two recessions with one following quickly on the heels of the other? Particularly if the second is entirely voluntary? I think not.
In which case, the announcement later today of the winner of the Labour Party leadership battle will also give us our first glimpse of the next prime minister in 2024. It will obviously be Kier Starmer and deservedly so. The sooner we see the back of Jeremy Corbyn the better off we will be.
Coronavirus
The numbers continue to creep upwards, with another 684 deaths on Thursday and 4,450 new cases. We are getting dangerously close to Italy's numbers and they will continue to rise for a few days yet.
