02-06-2017, 05:24 AM
The promises of riches after Britain departs were Alice in Wonderland fantasies, he told MPs. “Apparently you follow the rabbit down a hole and you emerge in a wonderland where suddenly countries around the world are queueing up to give us trading advantages and access to their markets that previously we have never been able to achieve as part of the EU. “Nice men” such as Presidents Trump and Erdoğan of Turkey – both of whom were visited by the prime minister last month – were impatient to do deals with us despite their history of protectionism. “No doubt somewhere there is a hatter holding a tea party with a dormouse in the teapot.”
Ken Clarke on Brexit: ‘I’ve never seen anything as mad or chaotic as this’ | Politics | The Guardian
In addition, there is the political cost, he says. “Every US president until the present one has found us more valuable because we are the leading bridge into the EU. We carry clout because we are one of the two or three big members of the EU. We are giving all that up as well. We are a trading nation and we have political interests in all parts of the world, where we will find our voice and our clout substantially diminished. I don’t think President Putin will bother to pick up the phone to Theresa May if he’s busy. We don’t matter so much any more.” As for Trump, “It’s possible that for some reason he wants to have a trade deal with us while he’s busy repudiating deals with everybody else but I don’t ... think ... so.”
Ken Clarke on Brexit: ‘I’ve never seen anything as mad or chaotic as this’ | Politics | The Guardian