Clarity of thinking is essential

We note this not to be mean to Mr. Colville for Robert is a thoroughly nice chap on the right side of most questions. However, this cannot pass without comment:

On financial services, for example, the EU is not going to give us unrestricted long-term access to its markets…

That’s not the right way ‘round to think of it. The purpose of trade is to be able to consume those imports. Thus the correct viewpoint is not will they open their markets to us but whether they will have access to the lovely things we make.

The City is the prime financial market in Europe and arguably the world. The question is not whether those financial firms can sell in Europe, it’s whether Europeans gain access to the financial services they desire.

This is true as a larger point about all trade restrictions, be they tariffs, phytosanitary rules, trivia over documentation or quotas. The only reason to have any of them is to deny consumers what they so obviously desire - for, of course, if they were not desired then there would be no point in having the restrictions.

Colville is probably correct in that there will at least be a determined effort by the European Union to stop firms and others in the rEU from gaining access to the largest, deepest, most efficient and most liquid capital market in the world. Our insistence upon describing the attempt in the correct manner does at least show how damn stupid the idea is.