Timid minds are wondering whether the UK should continue along the Brexit path that British voters approved in 2016.
But just imagine what kind of world it would be today if Winston Churchill had given in to timidity during WWII, or if Albert Einstein was too small a man for the job, or if Franklin Delano Roosevelt was too afraid of failing and thereby didn’t pursue his plan to ‘put a chicken in every pot’ in Depression-era America? We’d be living in a far different world now, wouldn’t we?
There is a thing about leaders and it’s this, if they don’t actually Lead they are useless baggage. And that’s all that needs to be said about that.
Prime Minister Theresa May was given a mandate by voters to take the UK out of the European Union, and whether it rains too hard on Sunday, or if Manchester United can’t seem to win a game, or even if the Russians are scaring us, Brexit must remain at the forefront of Britain’s To-Do List and everything else must be considered a distraction until the job is done.
How the UK can fulfill its proper role in the world
With a strong UK government the chips would fall into place rather quickly and completely bereft of excuses, the following would occur:
- Brexit (even a WTO or so-called ‘Hard Brexit’) or a sweet-for-both-sides Brexit would occur by the designated date of March 29, 2019.
- The UK would apply to join the (by then) recently renegotiated NAFTA accord — or perhaps all the parties would agree they’d be better served by partial UK membership in NAFTA. Hey, you never know until you try, but magic occurs when people of goodwill meet-up to plan mutual success!
- The UK would enter into trade negotiations with every Commonwealth member nation to see what the UK can offer those nations (expertise, financial services, high-tech) and what those nations can offer the UK (agricultural products, oil and gas, metals and minerals, perhaps even a source of low-cost seasonal labour for UK farms) and so much more! Again, you never know until you try!
- And remember, Theresa… the goal isn’t to say; “Well, at least we tried.” The goal is to secure a standardized free trade agreement, or a standardized low-tariff trade agreement with the Commonwealth nations and every non-Commonwealth nation — especially the NAFTA ones.
What’s to Gain?
By accomplishing those steps in the proper order, the UK economy would grow 5% over existing projections — or the government is doing it all wrong.
India alone will have 1.3 billion consumers by 2019, and the United States, the highest-consuming nation in the world, will have 331 million consumers by 2019.
Post-Brexit does not mean five or ten years after Brexit — it means one year after Brexit.
These goals are eminently achievable and there can be no excuses for not hitting these metrics by 2020.
Orchards full of apples will be missed for the sake of handfuls of grapes if the UK government is too ‘small’ for the job, or if it suffers from low ambition, or if because of timidity, it can’t grab the brass ring of destiny.
The time is now for the UK to take control of its future and to stop being distracted from the oft-stated goal of Building a Better Britain.
More power to Theresa May’s government for as many days, months or years they strive to meet the will of voters and continue to work to fulfill the UK’s rather obvious destiny!
Letter to Britain 
Check out this video….
Strong UK/Paraguay trade: It’s good for both countries
Of course, the Pacific Alliance should be, in my opinion, high priority.
Hi Tim,
I strongly agree with you and thank you for suggesting the video!
The Pacific Alliance is an exceptional trade group with strict rules set out for member countries and for nations awarded observer status in that association.
I’d be extremely pleased if the UK government were to join this (astonishingly successful for its size) trading group.
Thanks for all the great comments and suggestions! JBS
You are welcome, John.
I don’t know if the UK can get a trade deal with the Pacific Alliance, as such. I do know that the USA, for example, has bilateral trade deals with two members, Chile and Colombia.
There may be other opportunities that may be overlooked. For example, one web site urged the British to expand trade with the Francophone countries of Africa. And there are the Lusophone countries of Africa-Angola and Mozambique.
(I feel ambivalent about Angola, with its nasty regime and corruption, but the country is richly endowed with natural resources).
Hi Tim,
Just FYI, Commonwealth member Canada now has (or is very soon to be accepted for) Observer Status with the Pacific Alliance and it does plenty of trade with Alliance nations already.
Canada then plans to move at best possible speed towards full membership with the Pacific Alliance, and after the required Observer Status interval it is confident it will be accepted by the trade bloc.
It seems logical that after Brexit, the UK would apply for Observer Status and follow the same path as Canada towards full membership.
Just because the trade bloc is presently small doesn’t mean that it always will be small. Imagine the cosmic leap forward if the UK were to join the Pacific Alliance.
A good deal for all, methinks!
As always, best regards, JBS
I just noticed reports that Guyana has offshore oil deposits.
After reading your comment Tim, I went looking for a link to read-up on this and I hit the jackpot. Great article here…
Is Guyana Prepared For An Oil Boom? | OilPrice.com
From the article: “The world’s next big offshore boom is about to take place in the South-American country of Guyana, but the country and its rulers might not be prepared for it.”
Thanks for sharing this breaking information here at Letter to Britain!
Cheers! JBS
BTW, the USA has a trade agreement with Peru, another founding member of the Pacific Alliance.
So it is possible to have trade agreements with all four founding members of the Pacific Alliance.
There are articles online which comment about supply chains in regards to Brexit. To avoid disruptions:
In continental European countries British suppliers are being dropped from supply chains. In the UK, British companies are now looking for British suppliers as an alternative to continental suppliers.
Which brings up a question-will more British companies look for alternative suppliers overseas? And will more companies overseas adopt British suppliers?
Hi Tim,
You raise legitimate concerns.
IMHO, whatever is lost by UK businesses (continental European supply chains dropping their UK suppliers, etc.) will be made up by Commonwealth customers seeking UK suppliers — assuming Theresa May gets some reasonable free trade deals that begin the day after Brexit occurs.
Certainly, UK companies will look to other UK companies to fill the projected gaps in their supply chains, but I would suspect they would then look at Commonwealth nations (first) then America (second) then Asia (third) for whatever they can’t source in the UK.
My last point is that — depending how tuned Theresa May and Liam Fox are to the needs of British business AND the requirements of overseas companies — the UK should experience a 1-in-100-year economic boom as the UK tries to fill orders, and as overseas companies ship record amounts of goods to the UK.
I think that from here in April of 2018, it might be hard for some people to grasp just how much extra economic activity is going to be generated in and with the UK, beginning the moment Brexit occurs!
As always, very best regards, JBS
There is the phenomena of countries partnering with each other. France and Germany, for example, forming the dominant core of the European Union. (There is an alternative concept-Germany partnering with Russia).
With Brexit, France and Germany may be losing out on a chance to partner with the UK.
The UK has some impressive assets:
The UK has one of the larger economies. Ranking 5th or 6th in world, if I recall correctly.
London is the premier global financial center-at the very top. New York is number two.
I have noticed online articles which describe the growth of tech hubs. Cities across the UK (plus Dublin, Ireland) are growing into tech hubs. One article mentioned that these new tech hubs are attracting investment from…Silicon Valley.
Reading online comments posted by Brits, it seems that continental Europeans simply try to squeeze cash out of the UK.
The UK seems to under rated, under estimated.
Hi Tim,
I couldn’t agree more with your post!
The UK is the Rodney Dangerfield of Europe and it always has been that, for the simple reason that Britons are not ones to be ‘tooting their own horns’ and often appear to be excessively modest about their accomplishments.
While this is a noble personality trait for individuals, it’s almost catastrophic for countries to be so modest.
If you build the best (whatever) you’ve got to shout about it everywhere around the world — because if it seems like you aren’t completely sold on it, neither will anyone else be completely sold on it, IMHO.
Your other point about the UK being treated as the EU’s ‘cash cow’ certainly rings true here!
Thanks for taking the time to post your excellent thoughts here at Letter to Britain! Cheers, JBS
BTW, I think the idea of overlapping trade networks-Commonwealth and NAFTA-has a lot of merit. And I think it could be made to work, because at this point the UK is almost the only country that could get a trade deal with the United States.