If Britain leaves the European Union with the current EU-UK Brexit agreement, it will become a lot harder for the British to also conclude a trade agreement with the United States. That is what the American president Donald Trump said in a radio interview with the British anti-EU politician Nigel Farage of the Brexit Party.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson argues so far that leaving the EU paves the way for the British for more and better trade treaties. According to Trump, the two countries can do much better business with a for the British & #8216; better & #8217; brexit deal. Certain aspects of the current agreement make that impossible, Trump said. He pointed out parts of the current Brexit deal that excludes trade with the US in certain areas.
Trump's comments are bad news for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who put the commercial opportunities with the US as one of the biggest plus points of the British EU farewell. Johnson hopes for an election victory on December 12, after which the parliament will finally agree to the British EU exit.
President Trump also criticized Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn in the radio interview with Farage. Election profit from him would be & #8220; very bad & #8221; would be for the UK, says Trump. The American president denied Corbyn's claim that Prime Minister Johnson would sell the British health service & #8220; & #8221; to the US to loosen a trade agreement.
Labor started their campaign for the parliamentary elections in December on Thursday. Jeremy Corbyn again emphasized that his party stands up for higher wages, a new Brexit agreement and a second binding referendum on the British withdrawal from the European Union. He wants to agree a less far-reaching treaty with the EU, which he also wants to submit to the population for approval in a referendum. And if that is rejected, Britain will remain in EU. It is the first time that Corbyn said that out loud.
If Prime Minister Johnson manages to lead his Conservative Party to a majority in the December 12 elections, a departure from EU can be arranged within a few weeks. On the other hand, there is a good chance that the Conservatives will lose votes to the real anti-EU party, the Brexit Party, and that Labor will lose votes to the real pro-EU party, the LibDems. There is a good chance that no party will achieve a majority after the elections and that a divided House of Commons will continue to block a British Brexit treaty.
So far, Brexit has cost the British tens of billions. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) calculated that, due to all the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, the economy is 2.5 percent smaller than if Britain had simply stayed with Europe.