Thread by @DmitryOpines

1/ "Britain should not fear crashing out of the EU on WTO terms" tweets the @FT, as if this were established truth and not a 337 word letter to the editor from the desk of 'Brains of Brexit' Shankar Singham.

2/ Article starts by conceding a deal would better than No-Deal, which is nice.

Then it links to an editorial (ft.com/content/bb7302…) called "London’s financial sector will take a knock in 2019" to say, "No need to worry about that!"

Financial services never comes up again.

3/ Then there's this.

"If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the WTO will still exist and it will be a Member."

True.

Also if the UK pulls out of NATO, the UN Security Council will still be there.

This is the last time the EU is mentioned in this article.

4/ These two paragraphs forming the bulk of the article, are just some WTO history.

I encourage high-school students to use them with proper attribution but they have nothing to do with Brexit.

Students should leave out the last line, about the AB crisis not affecting WTO work.

5/ ... and that's it.

They finish with this statement arguing that those of us concerned about the impact of a No-Deal Brexit just don't understand the WTO and its role.

Even as an Australian, I lack sufficient expletives to properly convey my feelings.

6/ Then we get to my favorite part.

This letter is signed by some truly impressive people... and Shankar Singham.

He is described thusly:

"former WTO head of market access"

Sure sounds like he was the WTO's head of market access, doesn't it?

7/ The @wto has a Market Access Division. Being head of it, is a really big deal.

The current Director, Mrs Suja Rishikesh Mavroidis, is a highly professional stone cold bad ass and one of the most senior women in the WTO.

Here she is (first speaker):

newsvideo.su/video/8438231

8/ If Singham had been Director of the @WTO Market Access Division, that would be a huge deal.

It is therefore admirable that his publicly available bio makes no mention of this important role and that veterans of the WTO Secretariat like @CoppetainPU can't recall him in it.

9/ In fact, one could almost be led to believe either the @FT or perhaps Mr Singham himself took these lines about being head of wto market access at a US law firm a few decades ago... and dropped a few words.

10/ I'm not nearly as experienced as Mr Singham, so I'm assuming this is just how one is meant to act when presenting themselves publicly.

Therefore some personal news: I am now the head of Marvel Comics...

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... at ExplainTrade.com.

Added 11/ The @FT have now edited the bio of Mr Singham in the article to provide a little more context for his illustrious WTO career.