Brexit freedoms
The UK hasn't scratched the surface of Brexit in five years - one way this can be solved
This Substack is free for all subscribers - an article I wrote for The Daily Express last week.
Donald Trump has smashed the low growth, centrally controlled consensus that has led to economic decline.
In his first few hours he withdrew from the Paris Accord that tries to make energy more expensive and makes people cold and poor. He has shown it can be done in his first day.
The United Kingdom has had five years since it left the European Union to do this, but has not yet scratched the surface.
An excess of EU rules remain in place and hold back growth, but it is not too late. When I was minister for Brexit Opportunities and later Secretary of State for Business, we had a plan to repeal all retained EU law, unfortunately Rishi Sunak’s administration had cold feet so backed away from this, but it would still be the right thing to do. A massive deregulation that would release the animal spirits of the British economy.
Unfortunately, so far we have continued to follow the EU's green agenda, but we must now drop it. High energy prices are damaging British industry, the steel industry is closing and car manufacturers undermined by the prospect of green restrictions. All these rules ought to go, and the climate change act repealed.
When we left the EU, we were free from the emissions trading scheme, which penalises manufacturing. Foolishly we replaced it with something similar, it should go. The proposal to move to 80% electric vehicles, devastating for successful car manufacturers, must also go, in line with Donald Trump's removal of a similar plan in the United States.
The bogus statistics that pretend renewables are cheap mislead the British public, and as Donald says ‘drill baby, drill’ so we should say ‘frack baby frack’, for we are sitting on trillions of cubic feet of gas, which we could extract cheaply to provide electricity and gas heating of an affordable kind.
EU environmental regulations, such as the nutrients rules, that stop building ought to go too. Construction is a major growth force and people want housing thus the economy would grow and voters would be able to buy the houses they want. At the same time, the EU rules protecting newts or commuting badgers could be repealed, putting people first and, allowing development to proceed quickly.
To help deal with the cost of living, all remaining tariffs ought to be phased out, currently we still put a tax on goods we do not produce such tomatoes to protect EU growers. It is not our concern to protect farmers on the continent. These could go immediately and because we cannot leave our own farmers in the lurch, all tariffs ought to go, but phased out over the next ten years. This would save consumers money on food and clothing and so help ameliorate the recent inflation.
As the first five years of the trade and cooperation agreement with the EU, is reached, there is a time for a review. It makes sense to use this to take back control of fishing as a debt repayment to a community that was especially harmed by our membership of the common market.
Trump is showing that a sovereign state can be independent and put its people first. The UK ought to use Brexit to do the same.
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Excellent article. We need to stop pussyfooting around and get real action for our business and public wellbeing. This lame duck government has no idea on how to get the economy going. Giving our money away to foreign countries is madness when so many illegal Migrants are being treated better than our own citizens. We need a boost to the country by making sure we capitalise on our assets in the North Sea and plan more mini nuclear power plants . New technology for hydrogen fuel engines could help.
You raise excellent points. I would also add a large reduction in taxes, particularly cutting the public sector, and taking measures to make the UK an attractive place for investment once more, at the risk of inciting fury from the bond markets. In my experience, capital gravitates to regions that offer the most favorable conditions, and current geopolitical trends indicate that investors are increasingly turning towards Trump's USA or Asia. The borders and alliances that past generations would recognise are, I believe, undergoing fundamental changes, despite the best efforts of our so-called leaders. It raises an important question: whom will the UK ally with to ensure future generations enjoy a better quality of life than we have? You're right that the UK must prioritise getting its fundamentals in order before we can even consider reversing our downward trajectory, but it is essential for us all to acknowledge that the world is evolving and that a choice will eventually need to be made!