A former Australian PM has not held back on his thoughts on the potential Brexit trade plan with the Commonwealth.
Kevin Rudd called the idea ““the nuttiest of the many nutty arguments” and more tellingly “utter b*llocks.”
He was PM of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and from June to September 2013.
Rudd told the Guardian: “I’m struck, as the British parliament moves towards the endgame on Brexit, with the number of times Australia, Canada, New Zealand and India have been advanced by the Brexiteers in the public debate as magical alternatives to Britain’s current trade and investment relationship with the European Union.
“This is the nuttiest of the many nutty arguments that have emerged from the Land of Hope and Glory set now masquerading as the authentic standard-bearers of British patriotism. It’s utter bollocks.”
Rudd was not confident in a free trade deal with India. However, he was not totally dismissive of links with former British colonies and said that New Zealand, Australia and Canada would back the UK’s post-Brexit plans. However, their population is tiny compared to the EU’s market, he commented that it’s demographic size does not “come within a bull’s roar of Britain’s adjacent market of 450 million Europeans”.
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) - Eva Rinaldi
https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/keir-starmer-pulls-apart-mays-deal-saying-nothing-has-changed/12/03/
