Brexit watch

My leave pamphlet says 'We'll be free to trade with the whole world; the EU stops us signing our own trade deals with key allies like Australia and New Zealand [allies??], and growing economies like India, China or Brazil. We'll be free to seize new opportunities which means 'more jobs' [highlighted']. Is this technically correct?

whom not who

I don't understand how it will mean more jobs. Even if we succeed in finding markets for high end goods (which are the only ones it makes sense to sell), we're going to need more skilled workers (which we don't have) and somebody is still going to have to do the menial work.

Can we not sign trade deals outside the EU?

The reason the UK became rich when we had the Empire was because we imported raw materials from the Empire and then added value by manufacturing them and selling them. We no longer have an Empire to exploit and other countries have learnt how to manufacture and can do it more cheaply than we can. It makes absolutely no sense to talk about countries such as Australia and New Zealand, apart from nostalgic reasons and some emotional ties. Within a generation (or less) those ties will be gone.

Not until we leave the EU.

In any case, trade deals take years to ratify and the question remains "what are we going to sell?"

Our most valuable export is financial services and unless the UK gets an EU bank passport, we risk losing 22% of our exports, which is almost as much as our entire manufacturing export.

The UK has one of the biggest trade deficits in the developed world, so trade deals are likely to make our economy worse.

Correction: The City of London produces 22% of GDP, which means it's a bigger percentage of exports.

Financial services are our biggest worry and the EU is aware of this.

Daphnedill that is a frightening figure isn't it. Especially as a chunk of those financial services can so easily relocate their offices now they have less reason to be here.
A lot of other things we "export" are not manufactured products. They are things like tourism and education.
I was talking to a Japanese woman about Brexit last week and she said she did not see the problem as we still had our rich cultural heritage to attract tourists. I responded that we could not build a whole economy on that.
And - it occurs to me - with all the anti-foreigner rhetoric we are hearing these days (not racist, honest) foreigners may well feel less welcome than previously.
Apparently Aberystwyth has had 100 EU students withdraw their applications in the last two weeks.

The other thing about NZ is that it is poor. The cost of living is high. People have a much lower standard of living. They are less materialistic - which has its positive side (kids still wear hats their grans have knitted and are allowed to go out without shoes in the summer) - but it does not make them great trading partners. Even if they do quite like the Brits.
The Aussies are, it appears to me, anti-Brit. Ecstatically happy if they beat us in sport.
In western Australia there is a very common belief that "Poms are smelly".
My son was surprised when an Australian immigrant of Indian origin said to him, in tones of surprise "You're not smelly even if you are a Pom!".
I think they quite patriotic and favour Australian brands, Australian authors etc and are not rushing to buy British.

Never heard the smelly thing before, but we are known as 'whinging Poms' ( sometimes with good reason.)

@JessM

People forget the non-manufactured products we export. Apparently (although I've not seen it verified) the English language is worth £8billion in textbooks, exams sat by non-English speakers, courses, language schools, etc.

It will be interesting to see whether the EU keeps English as the de facto common language. If they don't, will it be French or German?

The tourism aspect was one of the first things that occurred to me; possibly because we were holidaying in Yorkshire at the time and there were leave posters everywhere with 'we want our country back'. I don't think I'd return to a place if I saw that when I was on holiday.

Sad, that, Tegan, when you think how much money is made out of foreign tourists in Yorkshire. They'll be asking for subsidies when the YTB disappears.

Australia trades extensively with China, but as my Australian cousin pointed out to me, we like trading with them but we wouldn't want to be run by them, australians simply wouldn't put up with it! Know the feeling!!!

www.politics.co.uk/blogs/2016/07/14/everything-you-need-to-know-about-theresa-may-s-brexit

Only five minutes.

"Poms are smelly".
Well, I haven't heard that one but there used to be a joke that a 'Pommie shower' was just a squirt of deodorant, but that was so many years ago, I don't think it is doing the rounds any more - hope not!
You just have to prove yourself with the Australians - DD went for a preliminary chat before a job she was doing and he said 'You a bloody Pom?'. She said, yes she was, she did the job and he said she was the best ever.

It always seems as if most of their cars are Japanese too despite the V8 Supercar Ford -v- Holden races.

I do think the Australians are quite protectionist when it comes to buying Australian brands and home-grown food - and good for them!

So - what would they want to import from the UK over and above what they do already?

nigglynellie The Chinese have bought up quite a lot of farms and tracts of land in Australia.

I suspect the smelly Poms thing might go back to the days when immigrants used to get off boats a bit whiffy to say the least and then were often living in very basic accommodation in the heat of WA.

Or it could just be that the almighty stink of Fremantle prison, where the UK used to send convicts, is still remembered in this way.

I will make sure I shower twice a day next time I go!!
(it does get very hot out there)

So they buy up farms Jalima? They don't issue edicts about how they have to run their country!!!

petraI meant that NZ is no substitute to the amount of trading possible within the EU.

Of course I know things have moved on, that is obvious from my post.

I must try love oil on tomatoes!

Back to Brexit - Aberystwyth University have made it known that they have lost about 100 students who were planning to start courses in the autumn. That would be about a million pounds that is not going into the local economy. Might also endanger the viability of some Master's courses I would guess.

www.independent.co.uk/student/news/eu-students-in-uk-after-brexit-eu-referendum-aberystwyth-university-wales-a7139046.html