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David Henig @DavidHenigUK
, 3 tweets, 1 min read Read on Twitter
Agree with pretty much every word of this - there's no doubt liberal supporters of free trade / rules based order got complacent / greedy, and hard to see where that leads us to in the future, with Brexit, US etc politico.eu/article/ken-cl…
For the future of free trade this means we have to rebuild the case for a new generation, as we see happening for example in New Zealand (or to a degree EU under Malmstrom). And not assume that free trade is good means free trade is popular
For the UK facing life after Brexit, a reminder that domestic pressures mean trade deals will never be easy, because to get something you have to give, and we don't seem in the mood for that. Gov recognition of this would be a good first step.
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More from @DavidHenigUK see all

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A modest step forward by those MPs supporting a 'Norway' Brexit - they have a better name than Norway+, we now have Common Market 2.0, also breaking the unwritten Brexit rule that all proposals must be +++ d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/stephenkinnock…
There's not much new here, but mention of our freedom to set agriculture rules doesn't sit well with commitments on the Irish border unless assuming Northern Ireland does not in fact have that freedom, and Irish Sea checks
Biggest problem for EEA supporters remains the opposition of both the Labour leadership and the referendum campaigners. Although a majority of MPs could probably live with an EEA solution it is hard to see us getting there
Read 3 tweets
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Meanwhile here are the "30 truths about leaving on WTO terms". globalbritain.co.uk/wp-content/upl… I make it that 7 are true, 8 partly true.
Here's the fact checking for claims 1-13...
14-30. Statements about the future are inherently debatable, so you simply can't say "there will be no roaming charges" is a fact. It is a possibility.
Read 3 tweets
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Hopeless. One of the EU's perennial complaints about Brexit negotiations is that they've been expected to play the role of both sides as the UK side has never really known what we wanted. theguardian.com/politics/2019/…
The EU will probably be able to make minor changes to the Withdrawal Agreement and perhaps more significant ones to the Political Declaration, but they expect these to be the final ones to get a deal over the line in Parliament. The PM doesn't know what these are.
There is no way the EU will agree to this, any negotiating partner will agree to this, and the very fact the PM is floating the idea will have Brussels in continuing disbelief at the PM's lack of understanding of negotiations. thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/t…
Read 3 tweets

Related threads

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1/ A short rant on the deficit & Modern Monetary Theory. MMT states that since the US can print as much $ as it wants, it can never go bankrupt and deficits are generally not important. Thus, the US should run significant deficits to maximize productive capacity. All good so far.
2/ The problem is that the economic and political realities of how government works means that this policy will end badly. Even the leading proponent of MMT, Stephanie Kelton, believes the policy can be overdone.
bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…
3/ Intuitively, it must. Otherwise, we should cut taxes to zero and double all spending. If there are no negative ramifications to the deficit, then let’s go. But even Bernie Sanders, whom Kelton worked for, has a section on his website “How Bernie pays for his proposals.”
Read 22 tweets
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What has @wikileaks has taught and shown us about the negotiation of secret #trade​ ​agreements? A thread. Add information you've found to be in the public interest that whistleblowers have trusted to the #WikiLeaks archive. #WikiLeaksIsAPublisher #Assange #SubstanceOverSmea​r
ACTA, the "Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement", was ultimately rejected. ​T​he agreement was an attempt to create a new global standard for intellectual property rights enforcement. wikileaks.org/wiki/Proposed_…
WikiLeaks released a document during talks at the WTO in Geneva that showed how the EU used threats to "reprogram development aid" if developing countries do not agree to sign a new free trade agreement with the EU. wikileaks.org/wiki/EU_aid_de…
Read 10 tweets
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Okay, are you ready for a tale of tragedy, comedy and mice?

We have another story, and you’ll be glad you came for the ride:
(if you’ve been following us for 2+ years you’ll have heard this one already. Sue us.)
A few years ago we realised the museum was – among many other things – ‘too brown’, so we had a makeover.

As in, rip-out-the-organs-dust-down-the-bones-and-start-again makeover.
Read 22 tweets
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Trump and Mussolini: 11 Key Lessons from Historical Fascism

Italian fascism provides a better model for our moment than Nazi Germany—and the comparison is not encouraging.

By: @Anis_Shivani for @AlterNet
Thread ✔
1/
Fascism is a religion. The 20th century will be known in history as the century of fascism.
〰️ Benito Mussolini

2/
I’d like to draw some comparisons and contrasts between our present situation and that of #fascist Italy between 1922 and 1945. I choose fascist #Italy rather than #Nazi #Germany because it has always seemed to me a better comparison.
3/
Read 169 tweets
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"Trump has used Harley-Davidson as an example of a US business that is being harmed by trade barriers. Yet Harley has warned consistently against tariffs, saying they would negatively impact sales"

Harley, hit by tariffs, shifts some production overseas apnews.com/6c8942f7363743…
Important issue highlighted by @riotwomennn: are tariff exemptions determined by bribes?

Corker: "22,000 companies have asked for exemptions.There is no basis to deal with them. Are they going to grant these exclusions based on political contributions?"
Trump’s trade war with the European Union is going to cost Harley-Davidson as much as $100 million a year and force the manufacturer to shift production out of the U.S. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Read 232 tweets
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1. A thread on #trade and aid.

One of the first tangible benefits of #Brexit I've seen is the emerging reform of @DFID_UK where it is becoming more of an arm of trade policy than a state owned humanitarian NGO. I would like that to go much further and rethink trade.
2. I do not think we should be wasting too much effort on free trade deals largely because they are of questionable value and encourage inefficient value chains. Any work on tariffs should really be reserved for multilateral activity.
3. Instead we need DfID as the spearhead of our trade policy. There is no reason why we cannot pursue humanitarian goals and enhance our trade while we are at it. For a start we can do a lot with medicines and pharmacy products.
Read 21 tweets

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