“There’s an asymmetry in experience and knowledge between these sides, and the side that doesn’t have that knowledge or experience is the U.K,” MacNeil says. “I will caution them against running headlong into a trade deal with the U.S. for the sake of it – it’s something we will raise with Fox when he is before the committee.”
Others question Trump’s motive in seeking a deal with the U.K. Vince Cable, the former Liberal Democrat lawmaker who served as the U.K’s business secretary from 2010-15, suggests Trump’s interest in a deal is fueled mainly by a desire to anger his political enemies in Europe. The President-elect has been particularly critical of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who he said made a “catastrophic mistake” over her policy of allowing in hundreds of thousands of refugees as a result of the Syria crisis.
“Trump’s proposals are politically driven, they’re not detailed trade benefits, they’re wider than that to snub the E.U., particularly Merkel,” he says.” On the British side, it seems there is desperation for a special trade deal, the purpose of which escapes me. It’s not clear what Britain would get out of it, given U.S. barriers are usually at state not country level.”
Left-wing politicians are particularly worried the U.S. will try to open up private sector access to public services such as Britain’s state-backed National Health Service, considered by all parties as the country’s most precious asset.
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