UK:-Theresa May has told leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos
that the UK will be a "world leader" on trade. But the prime minister also warned that inequality blamed on
globalisation was aiding the "politics of division”.
Her speech to
business leaders and politicians in Switzerland comes after EU leaders said a
post-Brexit trade deal with the UK would be "difficult". The European
Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, said Brexit would be bad
for the UK and the EU.
Key message
was on globalisation
In her speech,
Mrs May said the world was enjoying an "unprecedented level of
wealth", but many people felt this was "not working for them". Global
elites needed to tackle the backlash against globalisation, liberalism, and
free trade because leaders who "embrace the politics of division and
despair" were working to exploit the situation.
Mrs May said:
"Talk of greater globalisation can make people fearful. For many it means
their jobs outsourced and their wages undercut. It means having to sit back as
they watch their communities change around them.
"And in
their minds, it means watching as those who prosper seem to play by a different
set of rules, while for many life remains a struggle as they get by, but don't
necessarily get on." I didn't
expect Theresa May's speech to give so much emphasis to the downside of
globalisation and, with it, implicit criticism of the international elite.
She suggested
that too many bosses were not playing by the rules of paying their taxes,
taking on board their social responsibility or spreading the benefits of growth
and wealth.
That's quite a
tough message when you're talking about people in front of you.Mrs May needs
these people to be on board because they bring in billions of pounds of
investment - she also needs them to be confident about Brexit. Her message to
the international elite was fairly blunt: "You guys need to shape up the
way you operate - we can't carry on as before."
What about
plans for the UK economy post-Brexit?
The prime
minister promised that the UK after Brexit would take on a "leadership
role as the strongest and most forceful advocate for free markets and free
trade anywhere in the world".
She announced:
"I am pleased that we have already started discussions on future trade
ties with countries like Australia, New Zealand and India - while countries
including China, Brazil and the Gulf States have already expressed their
interest in striking trade deals with us."
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