The Prime Minister is not abandoning the trade agenda on the altar of the farming lobby, just proceeding with more caution
Not only is the region vital to prosperity and security in its own right, it also has a direct bearing on sanctions, defence industrial capacity, and nuclear deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic.
We don’t have time to waste. During 2025 and 2026 the TCA, the UK/EU fisheries agreement, the EU’s decision on UK data adequacy and its current policy on derivatives trading all come up for review.
As I vote on legislation passing through Parliament, I notice a steady stream of laws that we could not have passed were we still in the EU.
The shift to subsidies is more than the timely, targeted and temporary measures that we saw during the pandemic, and signifies a bigger change in global public policy.
In the geo-political battle of ideas, between an open, liberal vision of government and society, and a more authoritarian template, the continent, overwhelmingly, is in the right column.
It is absurd for the UK to lecture nations with much stronger environmental records whilst using creative accounting to flatter our own CO2 emissions.
From renationalisation of the energy and train companies to a bonfire of environmental and employment regulations, taking back control from Brussels has opened a new range of possibilities that were previously off the menu.
From the short-lived National Party to the astonishing success of the Empire Free Trade Crusade, the 20th Century saw plenty of attempted revolts on the right.
There is much that we can offer the region thanks to our expertise in many of the twenty-first century’s key industries.
The debate over one small trade deal is a sideshow to a much larger and more important conversation about what our countryside looks like, and what it is for.
If we do not act, we risk having some of the highest standards in the world… with no one producing to them.
Food security comes not from growing everything yourself, but having the most diverse supply network you can maintain.
My guess is that she is too smart to allow the worst case scenario to happen. To do that, however, she is going to have to move swiftly from focusing on winning the confidence of Conservative MPs and party members to winning the confidence of the markets.
The Government should work to diversify supply chains to increase resilience by making it easier and less expensive for UK supermarkets to import produce from all over the world.