Dear Subscribers,
The Bank of England downgraded its growth forecasts for the UK economy. This should precipitate a serious rethink of government policy from self-styled ‘former economist at the Bank of England’ Rachel Reeves, who emphasises at every opportunity her focus on encouraging economic growth.
The EU Commission has said it would “respond firmly” to tariffs imposed by President Trump. Trump has told US media that he plans to impose tariffs on the EU to counterbalance what he sees as its unreasonable treatment of US exporters. Though Mexico and Canada have managed to delay and perhaps avoid the imposition of tariffs in exchange for tighter border controls, it is unclear that the EU has anything equivalent to offer to avoid the threat.
Fighting talk from the Commission
Members of the Reparations Commission of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) will meet officials from the Foreign Office in April to discuss demands for reparations for slavery. David Lammy, the Foreign Minister, has previously called for Britain to pay reparations to former colonies. Whatever purported arguments in theory there may be for paying reparations, the political reality of sending billions abroad for nothing in return would surely make it impossible.
After polls were published showing Reform leading Labour and the Conservatives, the media was full of gossip over the weekend about the possibility of a Reform/Conservative alliance. Personalities and institutional formalities aside, the idea is eminently sensible. There is little difference between the stated policy aims of each party, but they each appeal to quite different constituencies of voters. Rather than competing to steal one another’s core support, they should, formally or informally, work together towards a centre-right government after the next election.
A potential match?
Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia all disconnected their last remaining electricity transmission lines with Russia and Belarus. They will now rely on the European electricity system. It has been received in the Baltic states as a historic sign of independence from Russia.
Media
Elliot Abrams on shifting geopolitical sands in the Middle East
Philip Cunliffe on Starmer’s approach to the EU
Key Points
Jeremy Clarkson says that unrepentant Brexiteers make him “so cross [his] hair catches fire and [his] teeth start to itch”. As usual with remainers, his stated reasons for being irritated with Brexit fall comically short of his purported reaction. Almost 9 years on from the referendum, it is incredible that people should still fail to appreciate the case for Brexit, even if they find it unconvincing.
The main cause of his ire seems to be queues at border control in European airports. This ire is misdirected if it is aimed at Brexit. Travellers returning to the UK should note that it is perfectly possible to process EU and UK passports together (UK border control manages it). The EU chooses to treat UK travellers prejudicially to satisfy its own self-imposed rules, which it could change if it changed its mind.
Even if Brexit were to blame, it would be absurd to get so worked up about queues at airports. Brexit was an event of constitutional significance. Waiting a little extra at the airport is trivial in comparison to the issues that were actually at stake. Clarkson makes the point that businesses find new customs regulations a nuisance. This may be so, but, as Briefings has often had to point out, Brexit has had a very small overall impact on UK-EU trade. Anecdotal nuisance does not stand up to scrutiny.
Clarkson suggests that the ability to self-govern is perhaps overestimated if we end up with Starmer and Reeves in charge. He apparently finds bureaucrats and bankers from Brussels a more attractive prospect, and who could blame him? But the key point is that Starmer and Reeves can be removed at the next election. This is not true of the upper echelons of EU institutions. In time, democratic accountability will weed out bad actors from the British government while bad actors take root in Brussels.
It is remarkable that remainers still find it difficult to contain their emotions when it comes to Brexit. It is a sign not of strong convictions but a lasting failure to appreciate the very reasonable arguments on the other side.
