THERESA MAY took her Brexit rhetoric to the world stage today. In the manner of a stand-up comedian doing a warm up tour, she began the week with a speech at Lancaster House, an offshoot of the Foreign Office – where she announced that Britain would be looking for a “hard Brexit”. Today it was on to the main stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland – where she announced that the UK will be a “world leader” on trade.
The UK Prime Minister also told other countries off for admitting that globalisation causes inequality: such statements, she said, were aiding “the politics of division”. Strewth.
Quite how the UK is going to become a world leader on trade is a detail which Ms May has spared us, so we are left guessing. It can’t be manufacturing: the UK has very little mass manufacturing left now and although some specialised and hi tech and/or elite products are manufactured, as least in part, in the UK, they cannot leapfrog manufacturers in the Far East and Asian subcontinent to become world leaders. It can’t be services: there is too little spare capital around the world to buy dog grooming and fitness advice in any quantity. Nor can it be financial dealings: they don’t bring in enough profit.
What does that leave us with? Jam. It must be jam. Ms May is keen on jam and she’s probably going to base the economy upon it.
Fortunately, if this proves to be May’s secret export weapon, Labour has an answer in the shape of jam-making Leader Jeremy Corbyn. He spotted the flaws in Ms May’s arguments right away, in terms of exporting and in terms of equality, and responded by saying:
“Today in Davos the Prime Minister talked about making globalisation work for all. But actions speak louder than words. At every opportunity, the Conservatives have given handouts to the wealthiest and cut taxes for big business – while refusing to provide vital funds for the NHS, cutting social care and ditching rights at work.
“Theresa May’s vision for Brexit is now clear: a bargain basement Britain on the shores of Europe based on low pay and deregulation. This week we heard the Prime Minister threaten to turn Britain into a tax haven, slashing corporate taxes and workers’ rights in an all-out race to the bottom. People won’t be taken in by warm words. This Conservative Government is backed to the hilt by wealthy elites, lines the pockets of its friends and resists all practical steps to make a fairer Britain work for all”.
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