The point is it's now just another country on an equal footing with the rest. Unlike the EU members which have to ask the Commission for permission to scratch their ass.
Trade deals are about power and taking the one for the EU as example because we (UK) need access to their markets more than they need access to ours then they always had the leverage
It'll be the same with US, China etc.
Even in the trade deals we've achieved with countries like New Zealand we've not been able to take advantage of being a larger economy and we've allowed lamb imports just to get a deal
But they’re not on equal footing with the global superpowers — the EU has significant leverage by representing nearly a billion people. The UK had an outsized voice in EU politics, where now it’s just a small fish in an ocean of sharks.
The UK is basically Mexico now. You saw how well their trade negotiations with the EU went; expect the US and China to walk all over them too.
Was doing it off the top of my head; was off on the exact number but the sentiment holds. The main benefit of the UK has been that it was an English-speaking intermediary for US companies. The Netherlands and Germany are filling that role as basically every white collar worker speaks fluent English.
The main power lever the UK has at this point on the global stage is the fact that its banks orchestrate and facilitate global money laundering at the intersection of corporations, organized crime and autocratic regimes. And is rapidly losing that role to crypto.
My reply is less harsh/dismissive than @hash9. Your last paragraph is powerful. I do think sometimes that I seriously underestimate the financial advantage that UK gains by having "selectively weak financial regulation" (my term). They are a like a Big Singapore, that pretends to be very well regulated, but looks the other way when autocrats want to buy 20M pound flats in Central London.
I expect they will try to extend their advantage in the coming years by using "selective legislation" to encourage multinational corporations to re-home to the UK. See: Unilever and Shell. This is only the beginning in my view.
I wouldn’t count on this working out long term. If this becomes the main advantage the UK has, it just becomes a consolidated target for anti-corruption initiatives. A country like that is also not a good one to live in, so they should expect to lose Scotland, NI and Wales to the EU. You only need London to launder money.
If you knew anything about the EU institutions, you would know that the Commission's role is only to enforce rules that member states have agreed upon but it has _no_ power.
Of course facts do not fit with the Brexiters' rhetoric.
Every region has been trying to consolidate international power blocks to specifically avoid having to deal on the back of Westphalian sovereignty alone, that is to not be on an equal footing.
