Thread by @mikegalsworthy

I was just on @lbc talking to @NickFerrariLBC.

As I see it, the big battle of 2020 will be the US trade deal vs the EU trade deal.

Are we European Brits or American Brits (colonial style)?

You can’t subscribe deeply to two different sets of rules.

We’ll be forced to chose.

Or rather - our Conservative Government have already chosen the latter

(it’s clear in their eagerness for EU crash-out)...

... but the question is whether they can sell this Thatcherism 2.0 (trashing traditional industries and being US’s data & AI subordinate) to the public.

So adding to the complexity of doing any trade deal...

...is simultaneously negotiating two trade deals that fundamentally clash in vision about regulation of UK food, health, chemicals & data/privacy.

That is monstrously complex.

Will the public understand this complexity?

Of course not. Even dedicated experts will struggle.

So what will happen at the politics level will be identity politics froth about UK, US, EU, WWII, loyalties, etc.

While industries & jobs get crushed by actual mechanics.

And the opportunities for corruption and US corporate entryism into our political decision-making...

(eg through more rightwing thinktanks pressed upon our @BBCNews, print press and & policymaking in tight collaboration with Tory politicians)

... will be huge.