Blethering Skite

The UK media has been amplifying the ridiculous claims that the UK’s 10% tariff on trade with the USA is somehow a Brexit bonus because it is lower than the EU’s 20% tariff. A moment’s thought undermines that - the UK is being hit with 10% tariffs not because we have a special relationship or because we are not in the EU its because the UK doesn't have a trade surplus with the USA - in other words the UK as a whole is not that good at exporting and so doesn't have as big a target on its back for Trump’s bullying.

If Scotland were an independent country and inside the EU it would have free trade with 27 allied countries. It would benefit greatly from being inside the world’s largest economy, part of one of the top three in terms of global trade.

But thanks to Brexit and the resulting weak and isolated trade position of the UK, we are perilously exposed to Trump’s bullying and the increasing global uncertainty. The UK is now without a reliable prospect of free trade with either the USA or the EU, where non-tariff barriers to trade loom ever higher.