Time for action on free trade

Instead of wasting their energy uselessly trying to lobby Brussels, supporters of free-trade should realise that their only real hope of success and of helping fight global poverty is to strike out on their own. The outlook for world trade liberalisation would dramatically improve if one or more European countries, led by Britain, were to declare unilateral free-trade. Not only would this shame many WTO members into greater radicalism, it would also make the outcome of the WTO trade talks far less important. We have no illusion that exiting the EU customs union would be easy; it would trigger a massive crisis in the EU and would probably only be feasible if several pro-trade countries worked together. But if we are truly to tackle the scandal of global poverty, such a possibility should now be openly and frankly discussed.

The Business Online