Days to Brexit deadline: 91
(Bloomberg) --
Today in Brexit: Donald Trump is just the loudest of many voices calling for a fresh start after Britain quits the EU.
What’s happening? The U.K. is facing a general election because political rivals in London haven’t found a solution to the conundrum of Brexit. The country also looks ripe for a radical economic shake-up once the dust has settled on Dec. 12, David Goodman and Lucy Meakin write.
New era. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn are each promising significant policy shifts: Johnson wants to implement his Brexit divorce deal and open a golden era of free trade and self-regulation; Corbyn plans an extensive nationalization program that the Confederation of British Industry warns could cost almost £200 billion ($259 billion). He launched Labour’s election campaign on Thursday pledging to go after “tax dodgers” and “bad bosses.”
The opportunity for change is something that unites those on either side of the political spectrum. Pro-Brexit economist Patrick Minford says a Conservative majority and a “proper Brexit” would “bury austerity” and usher in tax cuts and extra public spending. Labour supporters, such as the New Statesman’s economics commentator Grace Blakeley, urge voters to look beyond Brexit, arguing that climate change and global economic trends require a “rupture with the economic orthodoxy of the last 40 years.”
U.S. President Donald Trump is also calling for a new start. The president phoned into Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage’s regular LBC radio show, praising Johnson and tearing strips off Corbyn. But he also warned that, as it stands, the prime minister’s Brexit deal makes it hard to strike a U.S.-U.K. trade pact. The president said the two countries could “do much bigger numbers” if Johnson made a cleaner break with the EU.
Today’s Must-Reads
- After surprise results in 2015, 2016 and 2017, it’s clear that making accurate election predictions is hard work. So what’s worrying the pollsters this time around, asks Bloomberg’s Rob Hutton.
- No sane person would want to be an MP in the current climate, Isabel Hardman writes in the Telegraph, and that bodes ill for the quality of the next Parliament.
- In the Financial Times, Martin Wolf reckons that however bad things are, “they can almost always become worse.” The outcome of the election “might harm Britain irreparably,” he writes.
Brexit in Brief
Friend or Foe? | The Brexit Party launches its election campaign today with all eyes on how many seats Nigel Farage’s outfit will choose to contest. An electoral pact or even a truce with the Tories, or a concerted campaign to win votes in Leave-voting Labour areas, could make a significant impact on Dec. 12.
Sandbach Switches | Former Conservative MP Antoinette Sandbach became the latest Brexit rebel to join the Liberal Democrats. Sandbach, who lost the Tory whip when she rebelled against the government in October, is the fifth former Conservative to join the pro-Remain Liberal Democrats. She will contest her current seat of Eddisbury in North West England in the upcoming election.
On a Roll | About 65% of voter registration applications since the election date was confirmed have come from people aged under 35, according to government figures. One third were from the under-25s, the Guardian reports.
Letting Rip | One of the U.K.’s top legal officials at the EU’s courts made a thinly veiled attack on Brexit supporters in a valedictory address. Advocate General Eleanor Sharspton suggested their penny-pinching approach meant they knew the cost of the EU but not its .
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