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How 'free' are Free Trade Deals. Excerpts from a new book Privatized Planet: Free Trade as a Weapon Against Democracy, Healthcare and the Environment and interview with it's author Prof Tim ColesFirst of all, we should remember that ‘free trade’ is a propaganda term. Often the texts of ‘free trade’ deals consist of articles designed to privilege foreign (mainly US) corporations over domestic ones (‘national treatment’), to privatize public services under the pretext that public ownership is a hindrance to corporate competition, and allow for arbitration, meaning that corporations can sue governments (‘investor-state dispute settlements’).Not much is ‘free’ in these arrangements. Notice also that my summary says little about trade; such deals are more concerned with investor-rights protections and undermining international labour and health and safety laws.While FTAs benefit corporations, Coles continued, “the biggest loser is society at large"these misleadingly-named investor-rights arrangements, negotiated in secret, apparently in violation of international law, profit the CEOs and shareholders of transnational, often US-based, corporations.The biggest loser is society at large, including workers who risk lower pay and compromised health and safety, governments who have the threat of corporate lawsuits hanging over them, and the environment which suffers from corporate plunder. They also feed far-right narratives: that ‘globalists’ and ‘immigrants’ are ruining our lives.Brexit is like jumping out of the frying pan of a neoliberal EU into the furnace of ultra-neoliberal ‘free trade’ deals.The people who understand this, like Nigel Farage (the alleged ‘conservative nationalists’) are skilled at manipulating significant numbers of working-class people who, quite rightly, feel undermined by the EU and its ‘liberal internationalist’ supporters. The hard- and far-right parties do not attack international capitalism, which is the real root-cause of workers’ misery. They and their followers are happy to blame the most vulnerable elements of society, who are themselves also victims of neoliberalism.https://www.thecanary.co/feature/2019/08/02/academic-warns-of-a-furnace-of-ultra-neoliberal-free-trade-deals-after-brexit/(anyone who doesn't like The Canary please feel free to ignore all of the above)
Quote from: Boomstick on August 02, 2019, 02:52:14 pmQuote from: BillyStubbsTears on August 01, 2019, 10:53:53 pmWell THERE'S a surprise.That liar Dominic Raab caught out lying through his lying teeth.He claims he made it abundantly clear in the Ref campaign that No Deal might happen.The BBC fact checkers have found no evidence of that actually happening.As I keep asking the full-on Brexiteers here: ever think you've been had?https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49165836Absolutely not, I voted with the full knowledge that we may leave on wto terms and be able to trade with the rest of the planet This is head-banging against the wall stupidity. As Glyn says, we already trade with the rest of the world. What "leaving on WTO rules" means is that we'd still be able to go on trading with the rest of the world as we do now except for our trade with the EU and our trade with every country in the world that the EU has a trade deal with, all of which will be harder and more expensive.But hey! We'll have taken back control eh? The control to make decisions to make ourselves poorer and more isolated, so that's all good.
Quote from: BillyStubbsTears on August 01, 2019, 10:53:53 pmWell THERE'S a surprise.That liar Dominic Raab caught out lying through his lying teeth.He claims he made it abundantly clear in the Ref campaign that No Deal might happen.The BBC fact checkers have found no evidence of that actually happening.As I keep asking the full-on Brexiteers here: ever think you've been had?https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49165836Absolutely not, I voted with the full knowledge that we may leave on wto terms and be able to trade with the rest of the planet
Well THERE'S a surprise.That liar Dominic Raab caught out lying through his lying teeth.He claims he made it abundantly clear in the Ref campaign that No Deal might happen.The BBC fact checkers have found no evidence of that actually happening.As I keep asking the full-on Brexiteers here: ever think you've been had?https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49165836
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPIGq_eiRBU
It is a difficult one though isn't it. Do you take a no deal or do you constantly delay and push for a general election which sees numerous Brexit party MP's taking seats?
Quote from: Glyn_Wigley on August 05, 2019, 12:31:25 amhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPIGq_eiRBUThis 6 minute interview is spot on. Everyone should watch it, especially anyone who might actually be negotiating with the EU and Ireland.
Headline: Wine prices could be slashed in UK in a year if Boris Johnson strikes bold post-Brexit trade deal with Australia.Reality: Currently the tariffs on wines imported from Australia and New Zealand into the UK work out at around 10-12p added to a bottle of still wine and 22p on sparkling wine and hopes a trade deal can be struck quickly-like all the others the UK has signed recently?The political pygmies are still at it, George Brandis praising a known liar and racist.''In an interview with Politico he said he was a "unashamed fan" of Boris and was hugely positive about signing a quick trade deal with Britain, too."My advice to the U.K. government is to be bold and not be afraid of free trade agreements," he said.He hopes such a deal can be reached "before the end of 2020" or even earlier, pointing to the speed at which they've done similar deals before."It only took 15 months for Australia to complete our very very ambitious FTA that is with the U.S. some 15 years ago."The political will to do it is there.”Be patient with this video you could learn a lot about metadata from the great man.https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=George+Brandis+Metadata
With no-deal or a poor deal Glyn VAT will be the concern for most as it could easily go up 50% or more to cover the losses from trade overall?