The official blog of The Social Democratic Party.

The “Global Britain” Delusion

The truth is that by dismantling our protections, this government is not taking back control, but giving it away. Sell-out deals which would make retirees of our farmers don’t strengthen us, they kneecap us.

By: Mario Laghos

Some nations are more sovereign than others. Self-determination and flag waving only gets you so far until Russia turns off your gas, which is why “Take Back Control” won more votes than anything before or since. Communities scarred by deindustrialisation wanted real control, a strong standing army, jobs brought back, and order at the border. Boris knew it, he capitalised on it at the election, and won a landslide.

It was no accident that Boris canvassed alongside Gisela Stuart in Sunderland, committing to state aid. By and large, in the seats that abandoned Labour, there was an expectation that fishing would boom, factories would reopen, and wages would rise.

Perhaps we ought not to be surprised that Boris Johnson would confound expectations and go back on his commitments. Yet somehow, I do find myself surprised by the speed of the UK’s Kafkaesque metamorphosis into the fabled Singapore-on-Thames, more digestibly known as “Global Britain”.

The (re)emergence of Global Britain

There were warning signs. The UK-Vietnam deal had the whiff of grapeshot about it. In it we agreed (or more precisely, Liz Truss agreed) that tariffs on a swathe of Vietnamese exports would be wiped out. Then came the real blow, the Australia deal.

In her eagerness to score a PR win, Truss signed a deal that confounded even the Aussies’ best expectations. In fifteen years, all tariff and quota protections on British beef will be yielded, and this to a nation whose advantage is so absolute not even the US will trade their beef freely. This ‘deal’ is a surrender document which heralds devastation for farmers. But then we will be able to eat Tim Tams, so there is that.

What began as tragedy is now descending into a farce. There is now a recommendation by the government’s Trade Remedy Authority that protections on fifty percent of British steel be dropped, including on steel used for the production of Royal Navy ships.

The TRA’s mission statement is to “help defend UK economic interests from unfair international trading practices.” Clearly, it seems that the TRA has forgotten its own mission in pursuit of this new Global Britain. Luckily, the Prime Minister has resisted this latest siren call from free-trade ideologues, but whether he can continue to keep himself tied to the mast is anybody’s guess.

It could be that the Cabinet are suffering from a bout of Covid-induced amnesia. Evidently, they have forgotten the lessons of Thatcherite deindustrialisation, whose spectre returned to haunt us when our weakened manufacturing and chemicals industries failed to make ventilators or produce tests in our hour of need.

What’s worse though is their apparent and alarming short-term forgetfulness regarding one of the greatest successes to emerge from this mess: namely, the vaccine rollout. Onshore manufacturing paid dividends in saved lives, and now looks to bring soft power as we move to become a vaccine exporter.

A tale of Tory hubris

If not the result of amnesia, then the government’s actions must surely be hubris. Global Britain seems the brainchild of a Conservative party stuck in the early 20th century.

It is a fact to say that our steelworkers, our farmers, and our fisherman cannot compete in the global marketplace, particularly against third world countries with a propensity to dump their produce. Nor should they have to.

Britain has the second cheapest food in the world, a viable steel industry, and thousands of miles of coastline. We didn’t spend two hundred years fighting for rights in the workplace only to be pitted against Communist regimes.

Yet that insulation is being stripped in a Faustian pact that would see our economy further concentrated in the City of London. The inevitable result of abandoning these tariff and quota defences is unemployment, and the undermining of our strategic capabilities. When the next crisis comes, let’s not pretend to be surprised about our chronic lack of preparation.

The Prime Minister won his mandate not by promising to spike our own guns, but by promising to level them up. That mandate was awarded by millions of Red Wall voters, whose communities were decimated by the kind of policy now being pursed in their name. Liz Truss has the brass neck to claim that her Norway deal, which to the delight of Norwegians dropped protections against fishing imports, would be good for Grimsby.

The truth is that by dismantling our protections, this government is not taking back control, but giving it away. Sell-out deals which would make retirees of our farmers don’t strengthen us, they kneecap us. If we had a viable opposition, these mad axemen might not be so easily able to finish what Thatcher started. But the so-called opposition, Labour, would at the first opportunity re-shackle us to the failing European Union.

So, it’s a choice between a Tory party, whose idea of levelling up involves banning fracking and making pensioners replace their boilers, and a Labour party who are fighting tooth and nail against British coal, unconcerned as they are by our dependence on Putin’s Russia for fuel.

Ditching the delusion

The levelling up agenda is not quite as hollow as the Northern Powerhouse, or the long-term economic plan. The new Gigafactory in Sunderland was secured through government investment, for example. But we need another seven, and fast. The green industrial revolution remains a mirage on the horizon, while here and now bread and butter strategic industries are being gutted. Both major parties know the price of everything yet understand the value of nothing.

While trade should be positively encouraged, it must be conducted on a level playing field and with nations and people’s whose standards are in line with our own. The reality is that the government knows full well that British workers cannot compete with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. They know that farmers will go under, as they fight against imports of hormone treated beef.

But they don’t care. We’ll get some wind farms, a high street fund, and a Freeport to pacify us, but the aim of the game here is to export and expand financial services. Global Britain is a dangerous fantasy, and those of us who lent our votes need to speak up before we suffer the consequences of entertaining it for too long.

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All Comments (6)

  • Mario has a point I cannot believe why Johnson is still in office he must go he must go now I think the public are beginning to suss Johnson and what he is all about and that is himself He is doing enormous damage to this Country With the hugely successful vaccination program we should not continue with the idiotic Covid19 restrictions, normality must return but protecting the vulnerable also from Covid19, and what’s Labour doing to offer Britons an alternative Government nothing it’s imperative that the social democratic party progresses and offers an alternative to 5 more years of awful Conservative or Labour misrule the sdp must support growing calls for a federalized Britain with a codified written constitution and hopefully a Republic We must get rid of Johnson and his 2nd rate cabinet and Starmers Labour rabble

  • So we should of just stayed in the EU then ? I voted out and I do regret it now. Brexit seems like a total waste of time and effort. It’s ripped the country apart for nothing it seems. Great article !

    • I voted to leave and would vote leave again if there was another referendum I don’t trust Johnson at all I hope we can get rid of him sooner rather than in 2024 he is incompetent his government is full of 2nd rate dopes, but the EU’s future is uncertain

  • I agree that the Tories are an utter shambles and their “levelling up” agenda is not achieving anything, but trade barriers are not the answer. One of the few things that economists from around the world agree on is that countries that dismantle inbound/outbound trade barriers end up benefitting. Consumers get more choice and better value. Trade barriers favour producers, not consumers. Safety and quality standards are important and should not be diluted, but they should be used as a “floor”, not a “wall”. In terms of food, the UK has much bigger problems than hormone beef or chlorinated chicken – upwards of 30% of people are significantly overweight.

    And I agree that there needs to be more focus on supporting industries where we could become global players in the future, creating jobs and prosperity and contributing to global change – green energy, advanced materials, artificial intelligence for a start.

    • This is the worst government in my lifetime led by a dishonest buffoon who should of never been allowed anywhere near public office, the only reason the Tories have been in office since 2010 is because the utter awfulness of Labour from Blair to Starmer, the sdp should up the ante and offer the British people a real alternative to another dreadful Tory or Labour government We deserve better than Johnson or Starmer I would not even contemplate rejoining the EU it’s in real trouble whether we left or stayed, we need a new administration in charge yes Covid19 is in retreat but without Johnson holding us back we could emerge from Covid19 faster I am glad to have joined the sdp in April 2020 and renewed this year

  • Very interesting points made however it is vital and should be made as a key SDP policy to withdraw from NATO, if Britain wants to stay out of conflicts that only serve globalist and foreign interests.

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