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Much of this is rooted, as it always was, in the sovereignty fetish that devoured first the Tory’s Eurosceptic wing, then the Tory party and, soon, the entire British economy. It obsesses over the abstract noun of sovereignty, claiming that an EU deal with binding rules would violate that sacred principle. But every trade deal contains binding rules – a deal with the US would be no different. It’s true even of the WTO rules that will govern our relationship with the EU from next month, and which Johnson now rebrands as “Australian”, hailing them as the very incarnation of national freedom.
Perhaps, then, this is not really about the trimming of sovereignty – a compromise Brexiters are happy to make with everyone else in the world. “It’s because it’s Europe,” says trade analyst Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform. Ultimately, he’s concluded, this isn’t about tariffs and barriers, but something far more visceral. “They’re annoyed we’re in Europe’s vicinity.” If they could move Britain physically further away from the continent, they would. They long to be free of its taint.
Do you think the sovereignty argument should be applied to other trade deals too? Do you think that the UK should divest itself of all trade deals, on the grounds that they impinge on our sovereignty? Or do you only apply this argument to the EU?