Thread by @jonworth

Today we have had two notable examples of enduring post-Brexit highly ideological fervour from parts of the UK Government

This is so wrong it's absurd

A 🧵

First there was the news that Liz Truss and some other Ministers want to push for a fast trade deal with Australia and New Zealand

Peter Foster sums it up in this thread:

https://twitter.com/pmdfoster/status/1394555513497661440

Now just because you *can* sign a trade deal with Australia and New Zealand does not mean you should

And even if you should, doing it in haste might land you with a sub-optimal deal

In other words: weigh up the ethics and politics of this against the practical consequences - especially for those who lose out

And there will be losers... as the National Famers Union points out:
dailymail.co.uk/debate/article…

In other words, ask what you *want* from a trade deal, and ask *what you cannot accept* and try to gain as much as possible, while limiting the costs and negative impact

Or - as it otherwise might be called - do good policymaking

Which is not really to be seen here

And then there was a second example

David Frost at the House of Lords European Affairs Committee

https://twitter.com/tconnellyRTE/status/1394690031378391043

"it's a fundamental issue of principle that we do not align with the EU on any areas."

Let that sink in

Even *were* a Swiss-style SPS Agreement *in the UK's interests*, and it is pretty certain it would be - at least short term it would be - it shall be rejected on principle

Or in other words, even a sovereign decision to align, and even if that decision were in the UK's interests, it shall not be done

What please is politics *for* if it is not doing good for people? Helping their livelihoods, their businesses, their wellbeing?

Let them eat sovereignty and non-alignment on principle!

This is not about Brexit or not

This is about basic competence in policymaking, and the not unreasonable need to take practical consequences into account in policymaking

These 2 cases today seem to indicate the UK Government is incapable of that, and that is going to cause real pain to real people

With the rationale that it was about a principle

🤦‍♂️

/ends