The presence of dark clouds on the horizon provokes strange alliances in British politics. The governor of the Bank of England (BoE), Andrew Bailey, appointed to head the British monetary authority by the previous Conservative Government, has joined forces with , to demand an improvement in the negative consequences that Brexit brought to the United Kingdom, makes the improvement of relations with the EU that Keir Starmer seeks more urgent than ever.
“The outlook has now been clouded by the impact of geopolitical surprises and broader fragmentation of the global economy,” Bailey said at the annual meeting held each year in Mansion Housethe official residence of the Lord Mayor of the City Londoner (the mayor of the financial heart of the city), the big banks and investment firms with the British Government. The BoE governor did not mention Trump by name, but everyone present clearly understood what “geopolitical surprise” he was referring to.
“We face structural challenges, which include those arising from the implementation of Brexit,” Minister Reeves had said shortly before in her speech. “We are not going to reverse Brexit, nor do we intend to rejoin the internal market or the customs union, but we must restart our relationship [con la UE]”, he warned. The prime minister insists on his willingness to start a new chapter of good neighborliness and collaboration with Brussels, but without ceasing to insist that there will be no going back on the decision to leave the community club that the British adopted in 2016.
If until now Starmer handled this desire to get closer to the EU prudently and without haste, Trump’s election has incorporated a sense of urgency to that purpose. The president-elect of the United States threatens to significantly raise tariffs on imports from not only China but also Europe. And nothing suggests that Washington will have a favorable deal with the United Kingdom, especially after Starmer.
The British nation thus finds itself in a situation of isolation in which its “special relationship” with the United States is of no use, while it also does not enjoy the protection of belonging to the community market.
“The impact [del Brexit] “It has been felt more in goods than in services,” Governor Bailey told the representatives of a financial services market as powerful as London’s. “But it has served to underline the reasons why we need to be alert, and welcome opportunities to rebuild relationships, while respecting the decisions of the British public,” he noted.
The main person in charge of the British monetary authority has always balanced when referring to Brexit. Without ever questioning the democratic decision adopted by the voters of the United Kingdom, he has not failed to point out the disastrous consequences that leaving the EU has had for the country’s economy, especially for its international trade.
The Starmer Government wants to take advantage of the review clauses included in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement signed by the United Kingdom and the EU, which came into force at the beginning of 2021 and avoided the implementation of a “hard Brexit”. London wants to ease some of the veterinary customs controls on certain products, and achieve mutual recognition of professional qualifications in the world of work.
