Thread by @DmitryOpines

1/ Habib's argument, that the TCA is preventing the UK from massively deregulating and thus delivering the "traditional Tory Brexit" he envisaged, is in direct contradiction to the UK government's repeated claims it had no intention of deregulating to race Europe to the bottom.

https://twitter.com/GBNEWS/status/1475106209694990342

2/ Let's recall the horrors of the TCA negotiations.

The EU:
- was offering full market access, but wanted legal commitments that the UK wouldn't deregulate in areas like environment and labor rights to "exploit" that access.

This was the dreaded "Level Playing Field"

3/ The UK:

- Argued its regulations in these areas were world/europe leading
- That it had no intention of undermining them and never would
- That the level playing field commitments the EU sought were an unacceptable loss of sovereignty and more than you see in other FTAs

4/ Ultimately, the two sides compromised largely in the EUs favor and watered down LPF provisions were included in the TCA.

HOWEVER: The UK had always argued they'd be useless because it never intended to regulate the way Habib suggests is required to "Get Brexit done".

5/ So either the government was lying during the TCA negotiations and the EU was right to insist on LPF, or the deregulatory fantasy held by Habib and his libertarian frat bros is so politically unpalatable not even an 80 seat Tory majority government would seriously consider it.