As the third anniversary of Brexit Day (31 January 2020, when the UK formally left the European Union) approaches, another awkward portmanteau word has entered the never-ending debate: "Bregret", short for Brexit regret.
High-profile Remainers and assorted Britain-bashing doomsters are running riot across the media again, claiming that many of us who voted to leave the EU are now suffering from ‘buyers’ remorse’. Apparently, we slow-witted Brexiteers have finally realised that Remainer predictions of economic apocalypse following Brexit were right all along.
Those Remainers peddling the "Bregret" line might have enjoyed some media success in blaming Brexit for the current problems facing our economy and society. But that does not mean their case makes any more sense than it did seven years ago on referendum day. Since Brexit Day in 2020, Britain like the rest of Europe has been hit by unpredictable crises, notably caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
What does any of that have to do with the vote for Brexit? Have EU member states somehow remained immune to the problems besetting Britain? Hardly. Yet Britain is not faring noticeably worse than most of them and can still show some successes in, for example, attracting outside investment (always reported in the Remainstream media with the caveat, "Despite Brexit…").
As Phil Mullan has analysed at length on spiked, the UK’s "zombie economy" is indeed facing very serious difficulties, but these generally have little or nothing to do with Brexit. Leaving the EU was never going to be a magic solution to those deep-rooted historical problems. But nor has it proved to be the unique economic drag that critics now claim.
There is general agreement that Spiked is libertarian, with the majority of specialist academic sources identifying it as right-libertarian, and some non-specialist sources identifying it as left-libertarian. Activists associated with Spiked, sometimes described as part of "the Spiked network", took part in the Brexit Party as candidates or publicists, while disagreeing with Nigel Farage on many domestic issues.
Libertarianism (from French: libertaire, "libertarian"; from Latin: libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's encroachment on and violations of individual liberties; emphasizing the rule of law, pluralism, cosmopolitanism, cooperation, civil and political rights, bodily autonomy, free association, free trade, freedom of expression, freedom of choice, freedom of movement, individualism and voluntary association.
A BREXITEER social media commentator has answered the challenge to name "10 tangible benefits of Brexit" by identifying 14 - from trade deals to animal welfare to a measurable increase in Britain's power on the world stage. Jacob Rees-Mogg says EU was ‘very cross’ about Brexit.
Gully Foyle #UKtrade, whose Twitter handle is @TerraorBust, took to the social media platform to mock Rejoiners who have been arguing that Brexit has only produced negative results. He said: “In an interesting sign of progress from the now cliche "give me one tangible benefit to leaving the EU" line, I was asked this morning to provide TEN tangible benefits. So I had a think over my lunch break, and here is my list.”
It came as Tory Brexiteer backbenchers have been calling on the UK Government to talk more about the benefits of Brexit which are already happening.
Veteran Conservative MP Peter Bone, who ran the Leave supporting Grassroots Out! during the EU referendum, has recently managed to persuade the Government to slash EU red tape on motor insurance which has saved drivers £50 a year, one of the benefits not in the Gully Foyle list.
Mr Bone said: "We have got to start talking more about the benefits of Brexit. There have been a lot already, even small ones like £50 off motor insurance. But we are not talking enough about them and letting the other lot paint a very negative picture."
Answering the call, Gully Foyle named 10 and then added a bonus four.
“From a trade deal perspective, the UK previously had access to around 40 trade deals, as part of EU membership - which it paid billions a year for.
“We have replicated all but 3 of those deals (Bosnia, Montenegro, Algeria) so no longer have to pay ££s each year for them,” he tweeted.
Next tweet in the thread he noted: “Sticking with trade deals - since leaving the EU we have improved the rolled over deals with Japan and Singapore, and have completely new deals with Australia and New Zealand.
“We would not have these deals right now, if we had stayed inside the EU.”
“Despite much criticism of the brexit fishing deal he also saw that as a big gain for the UK.
“The gains for the fishing sector have already seen an estimated £50m a year increase, even when taking into account additional costs for paperwork.
“As a whole the UK fishing sector is now better off than it was inside the EU - as confirmed by the NFFO report in Sept '21.”
He went on: “Want to effect change? There are campaigns by a number of orgs wanting the UK trade deals with Faroe Islands and Israel to be suspended, to try to force political change in these countries.
“That such a suspension is even possible, is down to leaving the EU.”
There is great news for those who care about animal welfare, he noted.
“Since leaving the EU, the UK has implemented policies for the better treatment of livestock, put in bans on the sale of furs and shark fins, and banned the sale of foie gras from force fed Geese. All not possible within the EU.”
And those Remainers who thought the UK would be a fringe minor country with no friends, there is an answer.
“Since leaving the EU, the UK soft power rating has increased, and is now second only to the US."
By DAVID MADDOX POLITICAL EDITOR
13:43, Thu, May 5, 2022 | UPDATED: 18:53, Thu, May 5, 2022
Global Britain: What trade deals has the UK signed since Brexit?
What is a free trade deal?
A free trade deal aims to encourage trade between countries by making it cheaper and simpler. It normally applies to the exchange of goods, but occasionally to services as well.
Making trade cheaper is usually achieved by reducing or eliminating tariffs. These are government taxes or charges for trading goods across borders. A car importer might have to pay a 20% tariff on top of the vehicle's price, for example, to bring it into a country.
Trade can also be made simpler if countries have the same rules, such as the colour of wires in plugs or food safety requirements. The closer the rules are, the less likely that goods need to be inspected.
Why have tariffs and quotas at all?
While free trade agreements aim to boost trade, too many cheap imports could threaten a country's own manufacturers. This could affect jobs.
For that reason, a government might choose to put tariffs on certain things. Tariffs on car imports, for example, could help protect local car makers from cheaper vehicles coming in from abroad.
Since it left the EU, the UK has had the freedom to pursue it own independent trade deals.
Most recently it signed a deal with New Zealand on 28 February 2022. New Zealand is a small trading partner, accounting for less than 0.2% of total UK trade. While the deal is unlikely to boost the UK economy by much, it could lead to more New Zealand lamb being sold in the UK. British farmers are worried about competing with cheap foreign imports, such as beef.
The Australia deal was the first trade agreement negotiated from scratch by the UK since it left the EU. UK farmers warned they could be undercut by cheap imports, which could cost jobs. However, the UK government insists the deal contains protections for the sector.
A deal with Japan was signed in October 2020. It was the first that differed from the existing EU trade deal.
An agreement with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein was announced in June 2021 and builds on the previous agreement the UK had with these countries.
Talks with India began in early 2022. LONDON, June 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reiterated his commitment to seal a Free Trade Agreement with India, while speaking at a reception in Downing Street on June 28 to celebrate India Global Forum's UK-India Week.
The United Kingdom has joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a trading bloc of 11 countries. The CPTPP countries agree to reduce or remove tariffs on the vast majority of goods and cooperate on regulations and standards. The UK will become the first new member, and the first in Europe, to join the CPTPP since it came into force in 2018. The government says the deal will boost UK GDP by 0.8% over 10 years.
The CPTPP is a free trade agreement between Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Australia, Singapore, Brunei, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Peru and Chile. It is one of the biggest trading blocs in the world, worth 15% of global GDP once the UK joins. The UK is the first European country to join the agreement, and the largest economy after Japan.
See World Economic Forum: CPTPP - Here's what you need to know
What happened to the trade agreements the UK was already part of?
Building on the benefits of the UK-Canada Trade Continuity Agreement, the new Free Trade Agreement will go further than ever before in areas like innovation, digital, data, the environment and women’s economic empowerment.
For example, the adoption of digital trading systems can make trade cheaper, faster and more secure for businesses. This could see more than 10,000 UK small and medium-sized businesses benefiting from lower barriers to trade such as simplified paperwork, encouraging more businesses to start trading with Canada.
The UK is Canada’s third largest trading partner and Canadian demand for imports is projected to grow by 45% by 2035. Canadian-owned businesses employ 108,000 people across the UK and additional investment resulting from a new deal could support jobs across the country and help level up the UK.
Before Brexit, the UK was automatically part of any trade deal the EU had negotiated with another country.
At the time the UK left, the EU had about 40 trade deals covering more than 70 countries. The UK government says it has secured rollover deals with 69 of the original countries.
What is the UK-EU trade deal?
After Brexit happened on 31 January 2020, the UK and EU needed to decide the rules for their future trading relationship.
This was important because the EU is the UK's largest and closest trading partner.
After months of negotiation - which went down to the wire - a UK-EU Trade Deal came into force on 1 January 2021.
The deal prevented any tariffs and quotas being introduced - which would have made it more expensive to trade between the two partners.
The UK-EU trade deal went down to the wire, with fishing proving to be one of the major sticking points.
But not everything is the same as it was before Brexit.
As the UK no longer has to follow EU rules on product standards, new checks have been introduced.
The deal also does not completely eliminate the possibility of tariffs in future. Both sides will need to stay close to shared rules in areas like workers' rights and environmental protection. If either the UK or the EU shift their rules too far, the other side could introduce tariffs.
