Now the Johnson/Cummings move to change the Brexit agreement threatens a US-UK trade deal

Now the Johnson/Cummings move to change the Brexit agreement threatens a US-UK trade deal

One of the big challenges presented by Brexit is that the UK needs to make trade deals with nations that before had deals with the EU and there’s a reminder of the pressure that can be exerted in the above letter from Washington DC.

For in the US any trade deal would have to be approved by the House of Representatives which, of course could lead to all sorts of other issues being raised. A nation operating on its own and not part of a group becomes more vulnerable.

The US Congress played a significant part in the late 1990s in the moves that led to the Good Friday Agreement – the measure that ended the “troubles” in Northern Ireland. Anything that could in Washington eyes undermine that is going to get the attention of the House of Representatives.

Whether Cummings/Johnson had factored all of that in when they decided to override the Withdrawal Agreement is hard to say but the pressure is building up. Danny Finkelstein in the Times this morning makes this point:

Some people voted to “Get Brexit Done” as the next step in a war, but many others voted to “Get Brexit Done” because they wanted it settled, finished, over. And these people will not be impressed that, having been told by the prime minister that all they had to do was slam his deal in the microwave, they did as he said, waited for the oven to ping and found the deal was still frozen in the middle.

Maybe the whole Number 10 plan was for their proposal to be attacked in the way it has and ultimately fail. They can then blame others if Brexit doesn’t turn out as they thought.

Mike Smithson

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