Gove is right. We do risk becoming an outdated "VHS economy"
According to the Daily Telegraph, Michael Gove has said that Britain risks becoming an outdated "VHS economy" if it accepts calls by big business for the UK to be closely aligned with the EU after Brexit. He's right. The CBI is about as corporatist as it gets. Those big businesses who run the CBI love all the rules and regulations cascading from Brussels. It prevents many rivals from entering the marketplace. The CBI wants barriers to free trade. The CBI is a 1980s car phone in a smartphone age.
The CBI, of course, does have its supporters in Government. Philip Hammond being its main cheerleader. Here's a section from today's Telegraph:
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Tony Blair once again calls for another EU referendum.
It's fair to say that Tony Blair was not on top form this morning during his interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme. John Humphreys was all over him like a rash, pointing out the inconsistencies of his arguments and reminding him of an important word: democracy. Blair didn't even rule out a third referendum if the second one didn't go his way.
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Free Trade Must Win
On a day when the press is rightly reporting concern surrounding the decision by a US court to place tariffs on the aerospace and transport company Bombardier, there is no more appropriate time for Dan Hannan to be launching a new group, the Institute for Free Trade (IFT), to restate the benefits of the free market. As Dan explains in BrexitCentral this morning, leaving the European Union gives us a unique opportunity to write a new trade policy from scratch. Indeed, the UK must cast aside the twin threats of Marxist Corbynistas at home and protectionist barriers abroad to succeed after Brexit. To achieve that we need to restate the case in a more appealing fashion to win the argument and ensure the UK can become better off out economically (as well as politically).
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An ambitious speech but will the EU listen?
Theresa May’s speech in Florence this afternoon was said to be her most significant speech on Brexit since what she delivered earlier this year at Lancaster House.
Rory Broomfield, Director of Better Off Out, responds:
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