Comments by "TheEvertw" (@TheEvertw) on "Brexit isn't working - nor is Boris Johnson's Britain | Ivan Rogers interview | The New Statesman" video.

  1. "The naivete of the UK political system" The phrasing is very complimentary towards the Johnson government. They had been warned, many, many times that they were massively underestimating the complexity of Brexit, but chose to ignore those warnings. This can not be wholly attributed to naivety, but rather to disinterest. I think the Johnson government was pursuing different goals from what they admitted to. Their biggest priority was getting the UK out from under EU monetary regulations by 1-1-2020 because of the stricter EU controls on money laundering & financial transparency.
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  2. I wonder where he gets the figures for the "benefits" of regulatory relaxation from. Lowering regulations can make you more competitive in markets where regulations are lower, but closes markets where regulations are stricter. As the EU is by far the largest trading partner of the UK, this means that lowering regulations will mainly make it easier for other countries to export to you, while local production needs to maintain high standards in order not to lose their existing market. A company can not change its standards depending on who they produce for: they need to comply with the highest common denominator. This undercuts local production, which is exactly what we see happening in e.g. UK agriculture. Soon other branches of the economy will see the same effect. Also, new foreign markets can never make up lost exports to the EU, as it is the largest trading block in the world, conveniently placed at UK's doorstep. That is the biggest Brexit fallacy. There was nothing preventing companies from targeting those markets pre-Brexit. Economically, both short and long term, deregulation therefore makes no sense. That is not even talking about the social and environmental effects, as being able to compete with low-regulated markets means UK living standards will need to drop substantially. Which is exactly why the EU is raising standards: to improve living standards for its citizens. Which is why one of the very few examples of Brexit success we saw was a company exporting glass eel: a protected species that should not be trade in this way.
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  3.  @baronvonlimbourgh1716  That was deep and well considered. Thank you.
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