Pete North Profile picture
Oct 3, 2018 14 tweets 3 min read Read on X
1. All the solutions to the various technical #Brexit concerns are to an extent sub-optimal, complicated and require a degree of compromise. Tories, though, would rather queue up round the block to be told life is simpler than it is.

#CPC18
2. Anyone can blether about sovereignty and self-determination but in the real world, regulation and rules are the WD40 of trade and without agreed norms trade simply doesn't happen. All trade agreements to one extend or other place constraints on sovereignty.
3. Brexit requires of us that we seek a balance between isolationism and subordination but since the EU is the regional and global regulatory superpower in this equation, to a larger extent it will call the shots. This is a simple fact of life. They are bigger than us.
4. Since it is we who are asking for the EU to relax its third country controls, the EU is asking for a number of commitments, none of which are especially unreasonable if you understand how the system work. Tories seem to think these rules don't apply to them.
5. And this is how you get the measure of Rees-Mogg and Johnson. These men play soothsayer - pretending the issues are simpler than they are because simple is elegant and simple is popular and ideology isn't sullied with reality. But that is what makes these men con artists.
6. Everything about Brexit turns on detail. There are systems within systems - all of which require a degree of conformity otherwise they simply don't work. The EU is not going to grant concessions to the UK that it would not give to member states.
7. The fact is that these systems are inherently expensive and complicated because the real world is complex with multiple threats and challenges and if these systems could be simplified they would be. That is the whole point of harmonisation.
8. In this the EU is not stopping us from going it alone. It simply points out that there are consequences for noncooperation that it would extend to any country and there is no basis for treating the UK any differently.
9. Here though we have charlatans telling us the the EU is being unreasonable or simply bluffing. Amazing that. The whole world has suddenly turned into a conspiracy against the UK. How terribly convenient.
10. Partly, though, this speaks to the way in which politics has been degraded over the years. People prefer to be entertained by politics. The bombast and the scheming. They are used to it not having consequences. But now it does and our politics lack the maturity to realise it.
11. Even now the media has fallen into its comfort zone making this entirely a question of Tory party leadership rather than a pivotal moment for the country. Everything is through the prism of political showdowns.
12. Being that Johnson is an attention whore, nothing keeps the media more interested than a perpetual leadership pitch. He therefore has a captive audience where the bluff and bluster gets him all the air time he could ever want.
13. Meanwhile the Chancellor speaks the language of detail and compromise to an empty hall. That tells you everything you need to know about the modern Tory party. It's all a big game to them. Detail is just for the plebs.
14. This whole jamboree from the beginning has been soured by Tory arrogance. They said we didn't need a plan. They now say we don't need to compromise. That's what you want to hear so that's what they will tell you. You are, therefore, going to deserve what you get.

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More from @PeteNorth303

Oct 5, 2018
1. Today in #Brexit tedium: You all saw the Barnier tweet reiterating that a Canada+++ is available and has been from the beginning. The ultra brexiters have taken that to mean an FTA plus whatever fiction they want tacked on to it.
2. They are dishonestly claiming this as a vindication of their position, conveniently ignoring that the EU will not agree to begin talks on any such agreement unless the UK signs up to an NI backstop. The EU is entirely consistent on this.
3. The ultas claim that a Canada+++ deal where they get to define what the plusses mean means that we don't need a backstop, Two problems here. The EU won;t agree to it and secondly, the details of their proposal has the same basic flaw as Chequers which the EU already declined.
Read 20 tweets
Oct 3, 2018
1. It is not conspiratorial to say that both Johnson and Rees-Mogg are front men for a very narrow set of interests. they are relying entirely on the IEA think tank set for ideas - which sees #Brexit only in terms of how their financial backers can advance their interests.
2. I have never heard JRM or Johnson give a detailed and convincing anti-EU speech. They know how to drop in buzzwords and eurosceptic terminology but they have stolen the clothes of anti-EU scholars who used to make up the eurosceptic movement.
3. Very skilfully they have cleaved euroscepticism away from Ukip which has freed itself to concentrating on grunting about Muslims. Most of the founders have either gravitated to the Tory fringes or bowed out completely.
Read 20 tweets
Oct 2, 2018
1. For the benefit of the hard of thinking and for possibly the billionth time, there is only ONE way to ensure the UK maintains its current trade with the EU and that is by joining Efta and retaining the EEA agreement. (#Brexit thread)
2.There are means to ensure the bare minimum essentials continue but the EU is a major market actually on our doorstep so there is no way we should even be considering options that only maintain the bare minimum. The UK as a matter of fact needs a fully comprehensive relationship
3. As pointed out by the European Commission, a customs union covers only those functions listed in red and is not EVEN required to address those issues. The majority of border concerns are regulatory issues covered by the EEA.
Read 10 tweets
Oct 2, 2018
1. So if reports are correct it looks like Mrs May is going to go with a customs union as her next move along with those rules necessary to keep the trucks rolling. No doubt this is going to upset the #Brexit Taliban. (thread)
2. As ever she's got it ass backwards where the the differences then between NI and mainland will be more profound than if we'd stayed in the EEA and ditched the customs union. This is what happens when you equate customs controls with customs unions.
3. So the plan, if we can call it a plan is a Turkey Plus sort of arrangement - or maybe the Jersey Option. Whatever ti is, it certainly is turkey - but it's bordering on workable which is closer than we've been before. It will probably fall over on the details.
Read 19 tweets
Sep 29, 2018
1. Time of a thread on this Toryboy dribble. The problem with a #Brexit FTA+++ ("with maximum recognition") is that the EU does not do mutual recognition where it has already has harmonised rules. it is never going to agree to an equivalence system. ...
2. Put simply if we go for an FTA+++ then the EU gets to decide the terms of those plusses. It can can look at maximum facilitation for revenue issues in relation to VAT and tariffs and technology can help but that pertains only to the customs union. The bits in red.
3. As you can see it doesn't even begin to address the issue of regulatory controls and though the EU does do MRAs on conformity assessment, they are never universal and only if there are exactly matched standards. The belief we can unilateral diverge is a fantasy.
Read 18 tweets
Sep 29, 2018
1. I very rarely say something is a must read because very little is, but the new report "Power, Platforms and The Free Trade Delusion" from @UNCTAD is essential to understanding political trends in the wake of hyperglobalisation. (thread)

unctad.org/en/Publication…
2. Essentially globalisation has created the conditions for corporates to tilt markets in their favour and evade tax. It argues that the loss of legitimate revenue along with rent seeking is a driver of inequality and exacerbated by e-commerce.
3. The report in places gets quite technical and if you are at all normal your eyes will glaze over some of it but it is worth a skim read at the very least. Interestingly it talks about increased markups, ballooning profits and a decline in wages. Globalisation exacerbates this.
Read 15 tweets

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