Boris Johnson’s Post-Brexit plan for Britain remains a mystery

A Brexit has been hailed by some of its longtime advocates as a way to unleash a new dynamic in Britain by abandoning Brussels’ red tape to create a free, free ‘Singapore-on-Thames’ – a phrase created by a former British treasurer. , Philip Hammond – sells his goods and services around the world.

But Johnson is not a conservative free market in the form of Margaret Thatcher. He has so far promised Britons more regulation, not less, with ambitious plans to increase the minimum wage and limit greenhouse gas emissions. He promised more government spending, not less, in order to leave an economy ‘levels’ that he said were too dependent on London and southern England.

Such policies enabled him to win big in last year’s election in districts traditionally hostile to the ruling Conservatives, while his hard-line pursuit of Brexit alienated many of his party’s traditional allies in corporate council chambers. All this tension presents a mystery: If Mr. Johnson does not want another Thatcher-style economic revolution, so what does he want to do with Britain’s freedom from Brussels?

His first task is to deal with what could be another difficult year. Disruption due to new trade arrangements with the UK’s largest export market could hamper the economic recovery of the pandemic.

A 2019 promise to revive the backward regions seems more troubling now that the virus has hit a hole in UK public finances.

The pandemic itself is not over yet: the country is entering the new year with a new variant of the coronavirus on the loose and rising infections that will bring an inevitable future death toll. Even with a vaccination program underway, it will take months before Covid-19 is under sufficient control to lift economic restrictions, the resistance of which is likely to continue from the quiet parts of its own party. Meanwhile, Scottish nationalists are eager for another chance at independence.

Although Brexit has been done, Johnson’s long-term vision for the UK is not clear, political observers say. “He has had opportunities to articulate a great plan, but I do not think he has one and I do not think he feels he needs one,” said Simon Usherwood, professor of politics at the University of Surrey.

EU fears that Johnson would try to create a low-tax, low-regulation economy led the bloc’s difficult approach in the Brexit negotiations. The concern was that the UK would become a cheap competitor on the doorstep of the EU, which could overtake European companies because its standards were lower. The EU’s response was to draw up a trade agreement under which, should the UK abandon its standards – for example by changing the law to make factories more polluted – it would lose tariff-free access to the bloc.

Mr. Johnson tried in negotiations to maximize British freedom of bloc regulation. But in key policy areas, its plans reflect or magnify those of the EU rather than undermine them.

His big win in election 2019 was on a manifesto containing promises to raise the minimum wage and to avoid tax cuts. In its policy announcements on the environment and climate change, the United Kingdom has set ambitious targets that go beyond the commitments set by the EU. Meanwhile, the Bank of England has said it will not ease capital requirements and other regulations regarding banks.

Mr. Johnson, who was the biggest public face of the Brexit movement, praised Britain’s exit as a return to sovereignty. In speeches, he trumpeted traditional conservative priorities such as low taxes and deregulation, stricter policing and stricter immigration rules.

But he also spoke in favor of traditional left-wing goals, such as lavish investment in infrastructure and state support for industry, including greater protection against foreign takeovers, indicating a breach of the free market orthodoxy advocated by the ruling Conservatives. since the premiership of Mrs. Thatcher. He is in favor of strict environmental rules and prohibits the export of live animals for slaughter.

It is not clear what tension of political thought will dominate the rest of his term.

“Our plan to rebuild this country will not be blown off course,” he said. Johnson said at the Conservative Party’s conference this year and promised more investment in health care, policing and education. But in the same speech, he warned that the state could not act as ‘Uncle Sugar’ forever.

The mixed political messages mean that his vision for how Britain will deviate from the EU after Brexit is blurred. The departure in November of Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s leading adviser and one of the masterminds behind the Brexit referendum, contributes to this uncertainty.

From the result of mr. Johnson offered Cummings the most detailed vision for Britain after the Brexit. He wrote extensively on how Britain, without the constraints of EU regulation, would be able to better manage issues such as climate change, immigration shifts, urbanization and the use of big technology.

The vision predicted a new state that could intervene quickly to adapt regulation, thus strengthening investment and innovation. He argued that Britain would maintain economic competitiveness by becoming a leading hub for scientific research and leading industries such as artificial intelligence and green technology.

To become the first country in the West to approve Pfizer Inc.

and BioNTech SEsay

vaccine against Covid-19, the UK intended a signal demonstration of the kind of regulability Mr Johnson and Mr Cummings intended.

Apart from the Brexit, the signing of Mr. Johnson’s election promise to revive the UK’s backward industrial areas with lavish investments funded by taxpayers in schools, hospitals and infrastructure. Rishi Sunak, mr. Johnson’s treasurer, campaigning for ‘free ports’, low tax production zones that, according to skeptics, encourage tax evasion, as places for multinational companies to set up factories and create new jobs.

Internationally, the vision for Britain after the Brexit is better defined. Mr. Johnson spoke of Britain becoming a global defender of free trade, human rights and the fight against climate change, emphasizing London’s quest to act as a global judge, pushing above its weight in forums such as the Group of Seven and the United Nations. It has already increased military spending and according to officials, it will use its financial influence, for example, to develop sanctions to punish human rights violations.

A central goal of Brexit was to give the UK the ability to ink trade transactions independently of the EU. Officials argue that the UK can negotiate outside the EU with countries better adapted to Britain’s service – oriented economy.

So far, new UK deals with countries such as Japan and Mexico have largely replicated the agreements already in place with the EU. An important target is the US

The office of mr. Johnson was relieved when the prime minister was one of the first European leaders to receive a call from Pres. Received Joe Biden, after participating in Donald Trump for years. But the president-elect has indicated he is in no hurry to offer someone a trade deal, given urgent local priorities.

Write to Jason Douglas at [email protected] and Max Colchester at [email protected]