Despite Covid-19, UK-US Free Trade Agreement negotiations officially started today, with 100 negotiators on each side conducting talks over the next two weeks. The next negotiating round is already scheduled for June. UK chief negotiator Oliver Griffiths, spoke with his US equivalent Dan Mullaney, this afternoon kicking off the formal talks via video link. These negotiations are building on groundwork laid out by the Trade and Investment Working Group, which was established back in July 2017…
An FTA is a priority for both the UK and the US, with both sides having incentives to conduct talks at pace. Backbench Tories are delighted. They had been calling for US talks to operate concurrently with EU talks as a matter of leverage. Especially in the context of our Covid induced downturn, the more FTAs the better…
Policy papers:
Stinging criticism for Jeremy Corbyn from the USA’s most senior diplomat – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo – over his support for murderous Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. Corbyn will probably wear it as a badge of honour to be insulted by his oldest enemy – the United States…
Under fast-track trade rules, the US Trade Representative cannot start trade negotiations until 90 days after notifying Congress. Last night he sent that notification to Congress.
The letter from the US Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, to Congress said the USTR planned to start talks between “the first and fifth largest economies in the world … as soon as it is ready after it exits the European Union on March 29, 2019.” The United States wants to develop “cutting edge obligations for emerging sectors where U.S. and U.K. innovators and entrepreneurs are most competitive.” The UK – US free trade deal will cover the biggest transatlantic bilateral trading relationship in the world, right over the airspace of Ireland…
The letter also reveals that although the EU prevents the UK from formally negotiating a trade deal until after Britain escapes from the EU’s grip, Liam Fox and he have established a US-UK Trade & Investment Working Group which is “laying the groundwork for a potential future free trade agreement”. Turns out when Cameron asked Obama to say “Britain would be at the back of the queue” he was totally lying wrong…
See also: Cameron Asked Obama to Say UK Would Be “At Back of the Queue”
It’s the age of golden shower kompromat. You’re a political candidate fighting a tough election campaign. What keeps you awake at night? The fear that all your past sexual misadventures will be exposed, of course. It’s Guido’s mission to bring them to light…
Noah Dyer, running for governor of Arizona in 2018, is taking a novel approach to the threat posed by nosy hacks. Dyer is short-circuiting political journalism and dirty campaign research by publicly admitting to everything potentially embarrassing he has ever done. He is posting the details on his website in a “scandal and controversy” section:
“Noah has had both deep and casual sexual experiences with all kinds of women. He is an advocate of open relationships. He’s had group sex and sex with married women. He has sent and received intimate texts and pictures, and occasionally recorded video during sex.
“Noah has a negative net worth, given that he has nearly $100,000 in student loan debt. His income based loan repayment plan is actually insufficient to cover the interest, and his balance grows every year.
“During the recession, Noah used credit card cash advances to pay tens of thousands of dollars in child support. He paid some of those debts in full, but ended up settling some those debts individually for anywhere from $0.25 to $0.75 to the dollar. He also sold his home in a short sale.
“Noah is divorced. According to the court arrangement he has his kids 30% of the time. In reality he has them just under half time.”
If there are worse skeletons in Dyer’s closet, this could of course catastrophically backfire. Guido does not approve of candidates revealing their skeletons like this, if it caught on he’d be out of business. Fortunately honest politicians are a rarity…
