Thread by @StevePeers

1 Here's Dan Hannan MEP, Dansplaining about banana imports to the UK. His comments are not only misleading but also give us an insight into what he actually thinks about the Commonwealth.

2 The link *which Hannan himself provides* points out that there are *no* tariffs on bananas from African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.

(Also I think he's confused between metric tonnes and imperial tons)

3 What British industry does this help?

Historically it helped British shipping companies with links to Caribbean colonial/Commonwealth trade.

4 This is linked to the UK traditionally having special preferences for bananas from the Caribbean.

And it explains why the UK supported the EU banana trade rules giving preferences for African and Caribbean countries, when they were adopted in 1993.

5 Here's an explanation of the background, taken from the ECJ ruling in which the UK intervened to support the EU banana trade rules, against a challenge brought by Germany. As the judgment points out, prior to the EU rules the UK "protected" its market to give preferences to ACP

6 Here's a summary of the economic importance of the preferences for smaller Caribbean Commonwealth States at the time, from a paper published in 1996.

7 As EU tariffs on non-ACP bananas have dropped over time the Caribbean exports to the UK are a smaller share of the market and Geest sold off this business.

But it's still important for those countries.

8 Post Brexit UK could abolish the remaining tariffs, for a modest consumer saving of 11 cents/kg. That would likely have a significant further negative impact on Caribbean Commonwealth States though. It's a choice between freer trade and historic links.

9 Hannan is famously obsessed with the Anglosphere and the Commonwealth. I can't begin to imagine why he seems indifferent to *some* countries which fall within both definitions. //