Boris’ tub-thumping speech this morning championed free trade and set out Britain’s future trade ambitions with both the EU and the rest of the world. Guido was hoping to clip the best bit, but unfortunately there were simply too many; so watch the full speech here.
Boris announced, in what was perhaps the most ideological speech since Thatcher, that Britain will be reigniting global understanding of Adam Smith’s invisible hand and Ricardo’s comparative advantage. In Boris’ vision, a liberated UK will become a “global catalyst” to rejuvenate the global trading system. Free marketeers cheered as he scorned mercantilists and protectionists from Beijing to Paris to Washington DC…
It was widely reported that the Government would be banning the word Brexit from future business and speeches, and Boris demonstrated the new rule. The B-word – like the Glorious Revolution, the Norman conquest, or the Big Bang – is now in the past. Now it’s all about whether the UK trades with the EU like Canada or Australia…