Related News

Trump administration reviews submarine deal with the UK and Australia

Trump administration reviews submarine deal with the UK and Australia

June 12, 2025
Daughter of murdered MP praises ‘swift action’ of counter-terror police’s Kneecap investigation

Daughter of murdered MP praises ‘swift action’ of counter-terror police’s Kneecap investigation

May 1, 2025
Liam Payne to feature in Netflix talent show months after his death

Liam Payne to feature in Netflix talent show months after his death

January 31, 2025

Browse by Category

  • Blockchain
  • Breaking News
  • Business
  • Crypto Market
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Entertainment
  • Health Care
  • Politics
  • Technology
  • UK News
  • US News
  • World

Related News

Trump administration reviews submarine deal with the UK and Australia

Trump administration reviews submarine deal with the UK and Australia

June 12, 2025
Daughter of murdered MP praises ‘swift action’ of counter-terror police’s Kneecap investigation

Daughter of murdered MP praises ‘swift action’ of counter-terror police’s Kneecap investigation

May 1, 2025
Liam Payne to feature in Netflix talent show months after his death

Liam Payne to feature in Netflix talent show months after his death

January 31, 2025

Browse by Category

  • Blockchain
  • Breaking News
  • Business
  • Crypto Market
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Entertainment
  • Health Care
  • Politics
  • Technology
  • UK News
  • US News
  • World
IIHS NEWS - AI Curated content
  • Home
  • UK News
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • US News
  • World
  • Technology
  • Politics
  • Health Care
  • Crypto
No Result
View All Result
CONTRIBUTE
IIHS NEWS - AI Curated content
  • Home
  • UK News
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • US News
  • World
  • Technology
  • Politics
  • Health Care
  • Crypto
No Result
View All Result
IIHS NEWS - AI Curated content
No Result
View All Result
Home Breaking News

UK-EU deal tips Britain down path towards Swiss-style arrangement

Sarah Taylor by Sarah Taylor
May 19, 2025
in Breaking News, UK News, World
0
UK-EU deal tips Britain down path towards Swiss-style arrangement
74
SHARES
1.2k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

There’s a trick to announcing trade agreements like the one unveiled by the prime minister on Monday: pluck out a big-sounding number and release it to the public with zero context in an effort to make this sound very impressive indeed.

You might also like

John Swinney says it’s in ‘Scotland’s interest’ he meets with Donald Trump

Three Labour MPs suspended for breaches of party discipline

Ghislaine Maxwell could use ‘government misconduct’ to challenge imprisonment

That’s what Donald Trump did last week when he was in Saudi Arabia and it’s what Sir Keir Starmer did on Monday, promising the agreement with the EU should generate a whopping £9bn in gross domestic product (GDP) for the UK.

Naturally, when you squint a little closer, that figure gets considerably less impressive than it first seems.

After all, by 2040 – the year the government was referring to – £9bn will equate to roughly 0.2 percent of GDP, only a tiny fraction of the negative impact most economists have estimated Brexit will have on the economy (the OBR puts it at -4 percent).

Whether those negative estimates are any more reliable than the one the prime minister came up with on Monday is a debate for another day, but anyway, this is one of those cases where the numbers are perhaps somewhat less meaningful than the politics.

For one thing, even that seemingly small 0.2 percent of GDP is actually bigger than the calculated impact of the India trade deal unveiled earlier this month (and almost certainly bigger than any other trade deal signed since Brexit).

That’s because a small percentage of a big number is still a relatively big number, and Britain trades more with its neighbours than any other country in the world.

UK-EU trade deal: What is in the Brexit reset agreement?

UK and EU agree Brexit reset trade deal as Sir Keir Starmer declares ‘Britain is back’

Easing trade and signing a defence pact would be manifesto promises delivered – and Starmer could use a win

Read more from Sky News:
What’s in UK-EU Brexit reset trade deal?

King writes to Biden after ex-president reveals cancer diagnosis

Anyway, more consequential than any numbers is the fact that this government has committed to something its predecessors refused to countenance: aligning certain of its regulations (most notably food standards) with the European Union.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Previous Conservative governments all shied away from doing so – for fear, they said, of undermining their ability to seek free trade deals with other countries that would insist on greater access to their food markets.

Countries like the US and India.

That Starmer has managed to seal agreements with those two countries while still agreeing to align food standards with the EU is certainly a diplomatic coup. But it carries with it certain profound consequences.

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

For one thing, it more or less rules out the prospects of Britain ever sealing a proper comprehensive trade deal with the US (as opposed to the rather limited agreements it has actually signed).

It will push Britain over a regulatory Rubicon that was, up until now, seen as politically untenable.

If you are one of those people who believe that, like it or not, Britain is fated to edge gradually closer to Europe, ending up decades hence with what one might describe as a “Swiss-style deal” with Europe, then Monday’s events will have given you no reason to challenge your assumption.

Follow our channel and never miss an update

What, after all, is a Swiss-style deal but a constellation of complex bilateral agreements with Europe that fall short of single market or customs union membership, while locking the parties into a sort of uncomfortable regulatory convergence?

No one in government will ever describe it this way, of course.

But while Monday’s agreement doesn’t amount to much in statistical terms, it nonetheless tips Britain down a path towards a Swiss-style arrangement – with all that goes with it.

That certainly is a big deal.

Read Entire Article
Tags: Breaking NewsSkynewsUK
Share30Tweet19
Sarah Taylor

Sarah Taylor

Recommended For You

Three Labour MPs suspended for breaches of party discipline

by Sarah Taylor
July 16, 2025
0
Three Labour MPs suspended for breaches of party discipline

Sir Keir Starmer has suspended at least three MPs for repeated breaches of party discipline, Sky News understands.

Read more

John Swinney says it’s in ‘Scotland’s interest’ he meets with Donald Trump

by Sarah Taylor
July 16, 2025
0
John Swinney says it’s in ‘Scotland’s interest’ he meets with Donald Trump

First Minister John Swinney has said it is in "Scotland's interest" that he meets US President Donald Trump.

Read more

Ghislaine Maxwell could use ‘government misconduct’ to challenge imprisonment

by Sarah Taylor
July 16, 2025
0
Ghislaine Maxwell could use ‘government misconduct’ to challenge imprisonment

Disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell could use "government misconduct" to challenge her imprisonment, her family has claimed.

Read more

PM says former Tory ministers have ‘serious questions to answer’ over Afghan data breach

by Sarah Taylor
July 16, 2025
0
PM says former Tory ministers have ‘serious questions to answer’ over Afghan data breach

Sir Keir Starmer has said former Tory ministers have "serious questions to answer" about how the names of Afghans who worked with UK forces were exposed.

Read more

Israel attacks Syrian military HQ in Damascus – and issues warning to leave religious minority group alone

by Sarah Taylor
July 16, 2025
0
Israel attacks Syrian military HQ in Damascus – and issues warning to leave religious minority group alone

Israeli airstrikes have targeted the Syrian military headquarters in Damascus amid renewed clashes in the country.

Read more
Next Post
Beckham meets King and Queen at Chelsea Flower Show

Beckham meets King and Queen at Chelsea Flower Show

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related News

Trump administration reviews submarine deal with the UK and Australia

Trump administration reviews submarine deal with the UK and Australia

June 12, 2025
Daughter of murdered MP praises ‘swift action’ of counter-terror police’s Kneecap investigation

Daughter of murdered MP praises ‘swift action’ of counter-terror police’s Kneecap investigation

May 1, 2025
Liam Payne to feature in Netflix talent show months after his death

Liam Payne to feature in Netflix talent show months after his death

January 31, 2025

Browse by Category

  • Blockchain
  • Breaking News
  • Business
  • Crypto Market
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Entertainment
  • Health Care
  • Politics
  • Technology
  • UK News
  • US News
  • World
IIHS NEWS – AI Curated content

IIHS.NEWS will be firmly committed to the public interest and democratic values.

CATEGORIES

  • Blockchain
  • Breaking News
  • Business
  • Crypto Market
  • Cryptocurrency
  • Entertainment
  • Health Care
  • Politics
  • Technology
  • UK News
  • US News
  • World

BROWSE BY TAG

Blockchain Breaking News Business Entertainment Health Care Insidebitcoins newsbtc Politico Skynews Techcrunch Technology UK US USMagazine Variety World

© 2025 iihs.news - all rights reserved. YYC TECH CONSULTING.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • UK News
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • US News
  • World
  • Technology
  • Politics
  • Health Care
  • Crypto

© 2025 iihs.news - all rights reserved. YYC TECH CONSULTING.