The UK Must Get Tough on Brexit

The voters of the United Kingdom have decided that their nation must leave the European Union and it is up to the government to make it happen.

Enough of Theresa May seeking to find a "middle way" — a euphemism for watering down the withdrawal and keeping the U.K. tied to the EU, effectively reversing the will of the people.

Peter Morici, a distinguished economist with the University of Maryland, writes that the prime minister should inform the EU that "on March 29 — the date the U.K. is scheduled to leave — his government will declare unilateral free trade with Europe. It would continue to permit EU banks and professionals to do business and work in the U.K. if the EU does the same."

Let's keep the U.K.-EU relationship in perspective. In 2017, U.K. exports to the EU were 274 billion pounds, while imports from the EU were 341 billion — a trade deficit with the EU of 67 billion pounds! Clearly, the EU needs the U.K. more than the other way around.

If the March 29 deadline leads to a divorce, the U.K. would be relieved of the need to pay the EU $50 billion in alimony (the divorce settlement).

Would the international banking community flee London?

Morici says no way: "Europe will still need London's financial sector to enable its follies — European banking would no more move from London to Frankfort than American banking would move to Charlotte if Manhattan became an independent country."

A divorce would necessitate a period of adjustment, to be sure, but the U.K. would come through with flying colors. The EU? Not so sure.

France is in the midst of a virtual insurrection against its government as the "yellow jackets" swarm Paris. Germany is fighting off right-wing gains in its local elections. Italy is in the grip of the crazy, extremist Five Star Movement. Sweden and the Netherlands are being torn apart by immigration issues. Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic are in open revolt against Brussels' policies.

The Euro is down to $1.15 from $1.38 in 2014 and $1.58 in 2008.

The EU apologists think they are pushing the U.K. boat away from the dock to fend for itself in open waters. But isn't the reality that the U.K. is pushing the EU dock away from the boat?

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

(COMMENT, BELOW)

Dick Morris, who served as adviser to former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and former President Clinton, is the author of 16 books, including his latest, Screwed and Here Come the Black Helicopters.