Backing a dud
JUST a few hours ahead of meeting Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary for crucial trade talks, Rachel Reeves let the cat out of the bag.
With officials scrabbling to thrash out a vital transatlantic deal, the Chancellor revealed she thinks the EU is a more important partner to Britain than America.
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As the Pound dipped in response, Downing Street pointedly refused to back Reeves insisting “both are of incredible importance”.
But it was a telling insight into Labour’s thinking: that when push comes to shove, their hearts remain with the EU.
Why else would ministers risk American ire by considering taking rules on food imports into the UK from the European Court of Justice?
Or gamble with immigration by holding advance talks on an EU Youth Mobility scheme allowing under 30-year-old Europeans to come here freely — just a month after flatly denying any such plans.
America is the world’s biggest economy.
A trade deal that also wiped out Trump’s crippling tariffs would transform Britain’s economic fortunes.
So why give up the obvious advantage of Trump’s love of Brexit Britain by suggesting trade with him is inferior to the EU?
The Chancellor’s ill-advised comments have shown the obvious dangers in her strategy of trying to ride two horses at the same time.
Frack and ruin
BRITAIN has squandered the enormous potential power of fracking.
We are sitting on vast quantities of shale gas while the Government imports coal for British Steel from Japan, gas from Norway and electricity from France.
Fracking is a cheap, safe solution to the problem of bridging the decades until green tech works efficiently.
Ed Miliband is too blinkered to do it.
So Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch must make it a key plank of her future energy policy.
Old boys club
AS if the football regulator wasn’t a bad enough idea, now Labour has stumbled into a cronyism row over it.
The Tories say they can’t be sure whether party donor David Kogan will be on the side of fans — or happier teaming up with friends in Government to do what ministers want.
This unnecessary row would quickly go away if Labour saw sense and threw the entire thing on their planned bonfire of quangos.
It’s another anti-growth policy that will stifle the Premier League — one of our biggest assets.
Kick it into touch, Prime Minister.