Thread by @mikegalsworthy

Brexit’s lead economist Prof Patrick Minford on UK car industry:

“You are going to have to run it down ... in the same way we ran down the coal industry and steel industry. These things happen.”

This is the neoliberal Brexit plan.
1/n

Note here the clear admission that it was the UK government that ran down UK steel industry.

If anyone tells you it was the EU’s fault... show them this video.

... and then show them the UK decline relative to other nations - including European nations:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_c…

The EU has indeed been “protectionist” on our own food production (think protected status of unique produce), steel and manufacturing...

Whilst also serving as a robust platform for global free trade... with more deals than has the US, China, Switzerland, Canada, Australia...

But this is not the vision of the Minford Brexiters...

Who would happily run down industries associated with our basic security (food, manufacturing) - and make us a consumer nation that trades on high-tech and services (industries that are, incidentally, pro- Single Market)

So Brexit’s guru Minford would shaft the industries that voted for Brexit...

... and put his faith for Brexit Britain in the industries that are most strongly opposed to Brexit.

And that, in a nutshell, is Brexit for you.

Minford’s specific vision is to unilaterally lower tariff barriers across the board.

Think high-ground, low ground: That would put us down a tariff well...

i.e. all countries could pour down goods to us tariff-free. But our producers see high tariff walls all around them.

The effect of this is that we do indeed reduce costs for our consumers in the short-term.

But where do the consumers get the £ to buy the products? Either by selling products/services at home or abroad.

If both of those are out-competed, they have no £ to buy anything with.

And if you want other countries to lower their tariff barriers for your goods... what’s your leverage? In a trade deal, you’d lower your own in exchange.

But if you’ve already done that, you’ve got less to barter with - and other countries will prioritise each other.

So you effectively force the UK to scrap production and become a pure services economy.

Which sucks if you’re then leaving the Single Market - where you’ve been the dominant services provider in the world’s largest market... also setting much of the policy.