The ignorance of right-leaning Brexiteers, allied to their routine propensity to falsehood and misinformation, is not serving them well as reality begins to take hold and an increasing number of voters looks at the promised sunny uplands of post-Brexit Britain, sees that they do not actually exist, and wonder if there might be some more agreeable solution to the current mess - like remaining in the EU.
One of those parading their ignorance, and getting pwned for his efforts, is Darren Grimes, who was judged to have been too stupid to fill a form in properly, and thereby won his appeal against the Electoral Commission. Grimes, an appallingly immodest being with much to be modest about, has not, sadly, taken the hint and kept his head down. Instead, he has been positively busting with the superior insights we could all do without.
And just to show how much he doesn’t know about trade, Grimes decided to pass adverse comment on an appearance on the BBC’s Politics Live by former Australian PM Julia Gillard. After all, she’s one of those Rotten Lefties™ and so must be wrong on everything.
“There is the prospect of a trade deal with Australia … but I do worry that people are starting to imagine that a trade deal with Australia is somehow a substitute for being on the doorstep of a market with 500 million people. It’s not. And in terms of the current size of our trading relationship, our list, in terms of biggest two way trade, is China - Japan - USA - (South) Korea - India - New Zealand - Singapore - the UK” she warned.
Grimes wasn’t having that. “Last time I checked fantastic Australia seemed to be doing pretty bloody well for itself without being a part of the EU. Our trade with the rest of the world is skyrocketing, whilst that with the EU declines, let's reject this isolationism and 'little European' mentality!” She wasn’t peddling a mentality, just putting Brexiteers straight.
He was reminded of the geographical aspect. “Geographical proximity has never mattered less” he snapped back. But Dmitry Grozoubinsky had seen enough, and decided to put Dazza straight. “Hi, Australian trade guy here. Our country is 14,000km from Europe and overwhelmingly exports iron ore, coal and gold, mostly to Asia. Unless ya'll have a secret desert full of minerals and a plan to tow yourselves to just under South East Asia, our model won't work for you”. Ouch! And he was just getting started.
“We're also working pretty hard to secure an FTA with the EU, through which we hope to attain a fraction of the full market access ya'll enjoy as EU Members [and] thanks to a bunch of historical reasons, Australia enjoys significantly more access to the agricultural markets of the EU through country specific quotas under WTO rules than the UK will under No-Deal”. As to China and Japan being 7000km from Australia, well.
“The blue stuff on your map is easier to move goods over than the green stuff. Average sea freight time to Dampier from China is 9 days (Sydney is 15, but a lot of our iron ore and coal ships from up north). To the UK it's 29”. Also, Australia has built up bilateral trade arrangements with many of its trading partners. Grimes is talking bunk. As usual.
Yet he still gets invited on by the broadcasters. Ignorance is clearly strength.
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5 comments:
There's also that small matter of how long it takes to forge these deals. As former PM Kevin Rudd who was replaced by Julia Gillard keeps trying to tell the Brits- he started a new trade deal with China when he was elected in 2007. It still hasn't been concluded but they are "making progress".
When the UK joined the Common Market Australia had to find it's friends elsewhere and turned to Japan and China luckily just as China was entering it's new phase of mass manufacturing. Their fates are so interwoven Oz won't be ditching the billions in China and India for a fare-weather friend like the UK. These dills simply will not accept that trade deals can take years or decades to forge.
These Tory lovers really just have the brains of a bunch of corner shopkeepers.
There ought to be a Percentages for Dummies book for people like Grimes.
Well of COURSE "... he still gets invited on by the broadcasters."
That's because he's as right wing thick as they are.
Propaganda clerks look after each other. It's how they "make" a living.
@1. One of the smartest responses I've ever seen in the comments section of ZS. Thank you.
Ah, the old 'X Country isn't in the EU and it does just fine' argument. That's not even school debating level stuff.
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