Tag Archives: free trade

Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP writes…An EU-US trade deal would be good for Europe and for Britain

By Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP | Thu 23rd May 2013 - 1:23 pm

Today the European Parliament gave the go-ahead to negotiations for an ambitious comprehensive EU-US ‘transatlantic trade and investment partnership’ agreement – or T-TIP in the jargon. The EU and US combined account for over half the global economy, making this by far the biggest free-trade agreement in history. Existing protectionist restrictions in America as well as in Europe mean that the full potential of our economic relationship is not realised. While the abolition of remaining tariffs on goods will bring worthwhile gains, the greatest benefits will be in removal of non-tariff barriers to achieve a much more integrated transatlantic marketplace.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged transatlantic trade and investment partnership | 7 Comments

Can a global trade deal be rescued?

By Nick Thornsby | Thu 9th May 2013 - 8:13 am

Congratulations to Roberto Azevedo, who, it has just been announced, will take over from Pascal Lamy as the head of the World Trade Organisation later this year. Azevedo, a Brazilian diplomat, beat off Herminio Blanco, a former Mexican finance minister who had the backing of many developed countries.

The most obvious and pressing task facing Azevedo is to rescue the so-called Doha Round of world trade talks, which stalled in 2008 and have made little progress since.

In the absence of global progress, a number of bilateral trade talks have sprung up, most recently …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged featured and world trade organisation | 3 Comments

Lib Dems should lead the European push for a US trade deal

By Nick Thornsby | Thu 14th February 2013 - 10:23 am

President Obama’s public statement in favour of a US-EU trade agreement should be welcomed by all liberals. Free trade is a cause with a long and proud liberal history, and such a deal has the potential to increase prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic.

There will be some countries in the EU less keen on such a deal than others: our French neighbours being the most obvious example. Many countries in the EU have a vested interest in not creating a truly free market within the EU, never mind across the pond. Agriculture has long been a major impediment …

Posted in News | 4 Comments

Putting the party’s message in a distinctively liberal context – Part 2: the economy

By Nick Thornsby | Thu 31st January 2013 - 12:37 pm

This is the second of three posts looking at the party’s messaging. The first was published here yesterday; the last and final post will appear tomorrow.

The first half of our message emphasises economic competence: bringing back (as David Laws once put it) Gladstonian Liberalism to the Treasury and setting us up to be competitive in a fast-changing, globalised economy.

So far, much of the focus has been on our willingness to take “tough decisions”. Here, for example, is David Laws speaking to the Independent recently: “in the past people have known we stood for a fairer society but have …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged doha trade talks, economy, featured and party strategy | 64 Comments

Opinion: for a market to be free you must have regulation

By David Thorpe | Fri 5th November 2010 - 1:32 pm

Whenever I utter the phrase ‘free trade’ within those Liberal Democrat circles in which I am permitted to mix, the reaction is akin to that which I might get if I suggested making it compulsory for all party members to worship statues of me.

And that’s a pity (the reaction to the free trade, not the statues) because most people when they meet an advocate of free trade, mutter darkly about the effects of ‘light touch regulation’. But free trade and light touch regulation are not the same, indeed in many ways they are inimical to each other.

The debate should not …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged adam smith, david cameron and protectionism | 17 Comments

The Independent View: Poverty can and must be made history

By John Madeley | Sun 7th March 2010 - 2:15 pm

Ten million people bought Make Poverty History campaign armbands in 2005. Some would hold that voters give development issues a low priority. But those armbands showed that a lot of voters care.

More and better aid, debt relief and trade justice were the demands of campaigners. Five years later, how is the government doing? Brilliantly if you fall for Labour’s spin. Mediocre if you analyse the facts.

An OECD report says that Britain is expected to devote 0.56% of national income to development aid this year. That hides a few things. The government arrives at this figure by including …

Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Also tagged fair trade, gordon brown and international development | 3 Comments

Opinion: Ebay – Europe is the Politics that Counts

By Antony Hook | Mon 6th July 2009 - 6:26 pm

Internet firm Ebay are sending out an email, which I reproduce below, to its registered users, calling on people to sign a petition to support liberal trade and prevent luxury brand manufacturers restricting free trade in their product.

It is an obvious example of the importance of European Union law. It also reminds us how EU jurisdiction in trade law is logical. It is far better for consumers and companies in the 27 states to know that a common set of (economically liberal) laws apply across Europe than …

Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged european parliament | 29 Comments

Opinion: Gin-swigging Geldof joins chorus of calls for free trade

By Julian Harris | Sat 4th April 2009 - 2:29 pm

A BBC chin-wag with Bob Geldof was a predictable part of the G20 coverage, and culminated perhaps equally predictably, with ‘Sir Bob’ confessing that he’d been knocking back gin. He then peevishly crushed a plastic up and chucked it on the ground.

Sounds like my kind of evening.

Nonetheless, some of his sentiments, if not so predictable, were especially pertinent. On the importance of trade, he said:

Look, probably the great unsung triumph so far of the twenty-first century was the lifting of 400 million Chinese people out of extreme poverty—through trade.”

Furthermore, he urged governments to stop erecting …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged bob geldof and g20 | 4 Comments

Social mobility: is the Coalition doing enough to encourage it?

Stephen Tall asks: "Did Nate Silver write in vain?"

Nick Clegg: "Of course the EU has to change"

"Mad, swivel-eyed loons": a top Tory on the Tories

Tag Archives: free trade

Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP writes…An EU-US trade deal would be good for Europe and for Britain

Can a global trade deal be rescued?

Lib Dems should lead the European push for a US trade deal

Putting the party’s message in a distinctively liberal context – Part 2: the economy

Opinion: for a market to be free you must have regulation

The Independent View: Poverty can and must be made history

Opinion: Ebay – Europe is the Politics that Counts

Opinion: Gin-swigging Geldof joins chorus of calls for free trade

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Social mobility: is the Coalition doing enough to encourage it?

Stephen Tall asks: "Did Nate Silver write in vain?"

Nick Clegg: "Of course the EU has to change"

"Mad, swivel-eyed loons": a top Tory on the Tories

Tag Archives: free trade

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