Share this page!

Edwin Hayward 🦄 🗡 Profile picture
Twitter logo
10 Dec, 4 tweets, 2 min read
"Singapore, UK ink free trade deal with eye on digital economy talks in 2021"

Liz Truss managed to find the "Copy" button again...

Expect a flurry of jingoistic self-congratulation for something that "largely replicates" the EU's FTA. (What's missing?) straitstimes.com/business/econo…
"UK strikes Singapore and Vietnam trade deals, start of new era of trade with Asia"

More detail, wrapped in cloying self-congratulatory guff, on the UK Government website.

(Headline says "start of a new era". Body text emphasises this preserves the benefits of previous FTA.)
Don't get me wrong. It's good news they're rolled over. Better that than the alternative!

But this is neither an epic demonstration of Britain's mighty trade negotiation prowess, nor is it the "start" of anything new.

It is exactly what it is, nothing more.
For context, the official analysis of the EU's trade deal with Singapore found that it would increase UK GDP by £95 million (with an "M") in the long run.

It also found that Singapore's exports to the UK would increase about twice as much as vice-versa.
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Edwin Hayward 🦄 🗡

Edwin Hayward 🦄 🗡 Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @uk_domain_names

Edwin Hayward 🦄 🗡 Profile picture
14 Dec
London and some nearby areas are going into Tier 3. Pubs, cafes, restaurants etc. must close except for take-aways, and hotels and B&Bs must shut too.

This will be devastating at the most valuable time of year. But it's the direct consequence of too-weak restrictions earlier.
Because he's announced it today but it's only coming into effect on Wednesday, you can expect the usual wild excesses tonight and tomorrow from the subset of people who always seem to treat this sort of thing as the last day before the asteroid hits.
Oddity: London is so dangerous now that it requires Tier 3 restrictions, but from 23-27 December it will be perfectly fine for Londoners to spread their wings all over the UK (and for people to flock to London to visit people there).

And then the virus comes off its Xmas break.
Read 4 tweets
Edwin Hayward 🦄 🗡 Profile picture
13 Dec
The Express currently has *23* Brexit stories on the front page of its online edition.

Every one of them is a lie, distortion or fabrication.

It is not really *that* surprising that their readers have misunderstood the whole Brexit thing...
Since the referendum (and in the run-up to it too) anyone relying on the Express for "news" will have been exposed to thousands, maybe tens of thousands of stories about Brexit.

These paint a *consistently misleading* picture, ie they're wrong, but build on each other.
How can one expect people to be informed when faced with such a barrage of brainwashing?

But there is one thing the Express might be able to twist, but it won't be able to hide: shortages in the shops.

January 2021 will be a steep learning curve!
Read 8 tweets
Edwin Hayward 🦄 🗡 Profile picture
12 Dec
CityAM takes a leaf out of the Express...

Headline: "London retains finance jobs as Brexit fails to deliver blow to the City"

Body: "Financial firms in London have already moved around 7,500 jobs and £1 trillion in assets to new EU hubs as a result" cityam.com/london-retains…
The argument being made is that because firms hired more staff in the last 4 years than have been moved overseas, Brexit wasn't an issue.

But that's like saying that a bath with the tap running and a leaky plug isn't losing any water.

If it wasn't leaking it would be fuller.
It's a very Tory way of counting...

"Look, everyone... 20,000 new nurses. Aren't we fantastic?"

"But 18,000 nurses quit, so..."

"Shh. You're spoiling my vibe."
Read 4 tweets
Edwin Hayward 🦄 🗡 Profile picture
12 Dec
It will take the EU a surprisingly short time to recover from Brexit.

1) They have already (in effect) replaced our trade since the referendum.
2) Their borders are ready.
3) Each of our 27 competitors has the might of the EU behind them.
4) More jobs and capital will flee. Image
5) They will have significantly more bandwidth to devote to other issues (eg trade deals: 100% of their negotiators will be able to get back to their primary role of signing up new partners)
6) We have sabotaged our competitiveness further by axing VAT-free shopping for tourists
7) Hauliers who aren't already avoiding the UK will see the chaos at the ports, and give us a wide berth
8) The rapid switch to electric cars forces all auto manufacturers to completely rejig their plants *anyway* so more will take the opportunity to leave

And so on...
Read 4 tweets
Edwin Hayward 🦄 🗡 Profile picture
11 Dec
The UK government is abolishing VAT refunds for foreign tourists.

"The Government says removing the tax break will save the taxpayer more than £1billion a year"

If it saves £1 billion, the tourists are spending at least £5 billion less in the UK!

thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/art…
Except... that's not the full picture. Not even close.

You see, tourists don't get ALL the VAT back. So they will have spent more than £5 billion to get £1 billion in refunds.

They'll also have shelled out on plane tickets, hotels, restaurants, shows, museums, attractions etc.
Then there's transport, guided tours, incidental purchases that aren't covered by the VAT refund scheme, etc. etc.

What the UK Government has done is invent a policy that targets the wealthiest tier of tourists, and turned them away from the UK.

Is it because they're foreign?
Read 4 tweets
Edwin Hayward 🦄 🗡 Profile picture
10 Dec
THREAD: Here are the essential points from the EU's time-limited, limited effect no-deal Brexit mitigation offer.

(Most concessions are unilateral measures it will implement. Some require UK cooperation - not clear what happens if we refuse to do so!)
ec.europa.eu/info/sites/inf…
Air travel
"Unless there is a contingency measure in place on air transport at the end of the transition period, air traffic between the EU and the United Kingdom will be interrupted."

The EU is proposing 6 months of reciprocal concessions to keep (most) planes flying.
However, they're not offering any concessions on airline ownership requirements, so BA for one may come unstuck here (depending on how its restructured shareholding is going). Its message: you already had plenty of time to prepare, including a grace period.
Read 9 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

Like this author's thread?

Get emails when @uk_domain_names has new unrolls!

Check out other threads from @uk_domain_names!

Read all threads by @uk_domain_names