Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who is currently a senior advisor on the board of Boris Johnson’s post Brexit trade panel, is trying to stop British MPs from wrecking Britain’s future by inserting a series of absurd demands on climate targets, labour rights and treatment of animals into post Brexit trade negotiations.
Don’t sabotage free trade talks with a debate over climate change, Tony Abbott tells Britain
By Bevan Shields
November 19, 2020 — 1.56amLondon: Tony Abbott has warned Britain against discussing climate change targets during free trade negotiations, and suggested a deal with Australia could be inked by Christmas if both sides agree to phase out tariffs rather than immediately eliminate them.
…
Asked about incorporating rules on climate change and labour rights in trade deals, Abbott said the environment was important and mankind could not ravage the planet, but “relatively theological points” should not be incorporated in economic deals.
“I might have a different approach to zero emissions by 2050 to some others but obviously we want to get emissions down as far and as fast as all of us can,” he said.
“But I just think if you try to do everything in a trade deal you’ll end up doing nothing. There are other forums to pursue climate initiatives.
“If Britain tries to insist that everything that’s done in Britain has to be exactly replicated everywhere else, it wont do trade deals. Are we trying to do trade deals or are we trying to reach out from one country and try to dictate to another country exactly how it should do things?”
…
Read more: https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/don-t-sabotage-free-trade-talks-with-a-debate-over-climate-change-tony-abbott-tells-britain-20201118-p56fvu.html
On animal rights;
Trade advisor Tony Abbott says animal welfare standards shouldn’t be in Brexit deal
By Ben Glaze
Deputy Political Editor
14:55, 18 NOV 2020…
A UK adviser appointed by Boris Johnson rubbished claims animal welfare and environmental standards should be part of trade deals with other nations today.
He told the Commons International Trade Committee that when his Government was negotiating deals, he warned officials: “If you want a trade deal focus on trade.
“If you want to do an environmental deal or an animal welfare deal, do it through COP or through some other mechanism.
“Remember that the best is the enemy of the good.
“If we hold out for a deal which is absolutely perfect in every respect we may well never get it.
“But if we take the best we can get at this time, that’s nearly always good in itself and is the best possible platform for further progress.”
…
Read more: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/trade-advisor-tony-abbot-says-23030931
What would Britain’s situation be if the other parties refuse to sign top heavy trade deals loaded with laundry lists of politically correct virtue signalling? It is not the other parties who need these deals to work.
I wonder whether Tony Abbott is tempted to walk out on this charade, and leave the spoilt children to clean up their own mess?
But I doubt Abbott will walk. Because it is not the MPs who are making absurd demands who will have to live with the consequences, their ring fenced pensions and connections will enable them weather almost any imaginable trade disaster.
The people who will have to live with the consequences of failed trade negotiations are ordinary Britons, who have entrusted their representatives in parliament to look out for their best interests.
Maybe some of you who live in Britain should write to your MPs, and remind them who they work for, before they damage ongoing trade negotiations beyond repair.
One literally has to believe in magic to think that putting up massive numbers of unreliable wind turbines, solar panel farms and forcing millions of people to buy expensive EVs, where all 3 devices are heavily fossil fuel-dependent on upstream manufacturing and construction, will alter global climate.
Even if ones accepts the emissions-dependent model outputs on warming, it takes gobs of superstition level of belief, akin to voodoo-ism and water dowsing divinations, to think these economy-destroying actions will make any difference as China and the rest of the developing world make our reductions totally irrelevant.
Dear Mr. O’Bryan,
Let me allow three potential extensions to your contribution, please:
1. Wind mills are eventually heaters for the enviroment. Perhaps somebody colud calculate how much heat energy could be stored for example in the concrete basement of a 100 or 200 m high wind mill. It is about MANY m3 concrete…
2. The new free trade agreement of 14 Asian countries (including China) is without any enviromental/labour right/animal treatment issues. It can easily happen, that other countries (Russia, India, etc.) will join the agreement, and very quickly more than half of the world population will be covered of this free trade agreement without any pseudo religious lunacy of the greenies.
3. Last week we have received a nice letter from our natural gas supplier: The gas price will be raised by 9 (nine) % as a consequence of the new CO2 tax in Germany to be introduced by 1. January 2021. Due to the CO2 tax all prices will be raised (unfortunately the salaries/wages NOT).
Who needs wars when you have destructive carbon taxes that make life miserable for many people. Who is behind this suicidal kind of policies ?
Very regressive tax too.
“Tax the poor and give it to the rich!”, yell the green tight modern anti robin hooder goons.
Well said Eric. No wild hyperbole, just a common sense suggestion. Let’s remind politicians why they are there!
“Al Miller November 22, 2020 at 10:47 am
Let’s remind politicians why they are there!”
To “serve” 3 terms (About 9 years in Australia at least) and then have access to a full pension and benefits for life?
In the US we call it “pork” when unrelated requests are put in legislation. Often those requests kill needed legislation. Some call it ‘politics’ but it’s nothing more than legalized blackmail IMO. One issue per bill would certainly speed up the process and help the people who need it. A Convention of States could solve that problem. I understand that’s how the Swiss people do it (not that they’re perfect but it gets the intended job done).
As I wrote earlier, those ‘elites’ who most strenuously promote “climate action” are the ones who are least likely to suffer any effects on their financial wellbeing or standards of living.
Just as with socialism.
England is well overdue an invasion.
Over the last couple millennia almost all of Europe has taken a pop at us, with varying results.
In our present state the approach of *any* invaders would be preferable to the present train-wreck
‘cept the French of course
Polish people seem affable, honest, hard-working and well grounded in reality and are making good inroads around here at least.
C’mon, what about it Poland? seriously
We haz lotsa coal *and* natural gas, iron ore and all that shizzle.
I ain’t gonna hold you back
(Wonders where Nigel Farage originated from or was influenced by/from)
Love it !
Back in the distant past of 2019 during the semi mythical Age of Travel I had the pleasure of visiting both sides of the Irish Sea.
Although I was not in Dublin for any extended period of time I wish to point out there are only a finite amount of Poles in the world and feel pretty confident in saying that if England attempted to bring any of them across their borders then Ireland would come to a grinding halt within 72 hours.
If Poles were banned then no freight would be transported across the whole of the EU zone.
Poland has just purchased a nuclear reactor from the US (along with US troops from Germany.)
Britain should get on with Hinkley Point, in spite of Austria’s court case against it.
Beggars (BoJo) should not be choosers. BoJo needs the trade deal, not Australia. And Australia is just a warm up for USA.
We Brits didn’t vote to leave the tyranny of the EU through Brexit to become eco-tyrants ourselves.
That’s exactly what has actually happened. See BoJo’s unbelievable green outbursts.
After all the entire Green New Deal originates in the City of London’s financial square mile.
Mark Carney, former BofE chief, is the lead tyrant with van der Leyen and Lady Gaga’rd in tow.
What a circus!
Is it a working theory in the UK that Boris is being led around by his second head, influenced by the tart he is currently shagging? It can happen to the best of men, not that Boris is necessarily in that category. Look at what Ann Druyan did to Carl Sagan, turned him into a sniveling scaredy-cat worried about nuclear winter (NOT the nuclear war itself, but the climate change that would follow) and CO2 based CAGW.
Thinking and arguing out of line with the EU/UN/IMF/etc propaganda seems to lead to civil war as in Leipzig yesterday.
Leipzig: Mob lashes out at person lying on the ground – police fire warning shot.
https://www.focus.de/gesundheit/coronavirus/nach-abgesagter-querdenken-demo-leipzig-mob-pruegelt-auf-am-boden-liegende-person-ein-polizei-gibt-warnschuss-ab_id_12688096.html
A total of 1,600 police officers from 6 federal states as well as the Federal Police were on duty.
I suspect people are unhappy about a lot of issues in Germany right now. Maybe the politicians should ask themselves “why”.
And here is an example of German state intolerance to anyone who questions government-approved covid orthodoxy.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=coSOxQ0w0Go
Not sure if it is a bad excuse. On the German link via Telegram yesterday, there were at lest one who commented that the official statement from the police was that he was arrested for other reasons.
How about climatetradeclimatetradeanimallabour and climate? That’s only got a little climate in it.
But I don’t want any climate! Couldn’t I just have the eggs, bacon, climate, and sausage without the climate?
For those who find this comment inscrutable, refer to the following:
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2hwqlw
But to the anti-economy ‘higher purpose’ persons, the damaging of trade, commerce and industry is the goal. Anything is good in their eyes if it brings about a smaller but manageable free labour pool without jeopardizing their own privileges.
“But if we take the best we can get at this time, that’s nearly always good in itself and is the best possible platform for further progress.”
The politicians these days have no idea what is the best platform.
See for example San Fransisco and Silicon Valley, which is run so badly Green, that even Big Tech is now slowly migrating to better areas:
Tech Magnate Leaving San Francisco for Florida
In the latest sign of economic trouble for Silicon Valley, Bay Area tech entrepreneur Keith Rabois is leaving San Francisco for the state of Florida.
Full story:
https://www.newsmax.com/us/tech-sanfrancisco-florida-outmigration/2020/11/22/id/998239/
The UK politicians mindset is straight out of the arrogant EU they are leaving, trying to control other countries and the world with local rules and personal dogma / virtue signalling. At bit like those that flee California and then vote Democrat in their new State.
Perhaps this is a result of the American election, Boris changing horses and trying to lick around Biden instead of Trump? He certainly seems to go with the way the wind is blowing (no pun intended!) It is hard to follow the political leanings of someone who defied the ‘progressive’ left by championing Brexit one minute then wants to make Britain the first lemming over the cliff with his ‘green revolution’ the next.
Abbott shows he has far too much common sense to be part of a UK government. Our country has been taken over by a political class of abject weapons, resulting in Parliament being stuffed full of activists pretending to be MP’s. We’re a lost cause.
“….we want to get emissions down as far and as fast as possible”? What emissions? If CO2 is the “emissions” then it is all a waste of time….CO2 emissions are fine. In a more perfect world, every country would be self sufficient in food and energy. In a more perfect world, the only trade would be mostly in unnecessary stuff like tourism…unique goods…etc. In the imperfect world, there is arms trade…exploitation of labor….unequal distribution of energy and food.
T. C. Clark,
You simplify a bit too much with respect to the trade.
It is difficult to grow coffee in Canada, and northern Europe for example.
Friendly trade is improving quality of life.
I agree that coffee is a necessity….but not all tropical fruits for instance…except bananas. The unique goods I mentioned are coffee etc. Large corps in one country want to sell across borders to make more profit, of course.
Coffee is a luxury.
If you remove coffee from a person’s life they do not die. Moaning and complaining is not dying.
It is not necessary for continued human life. It makes humans enjoy their life more, yes, but to flag it as a necessity not only flags you as a coffee drinker, but suggests your understanding of both human needs and the concepts of trade is somewhat off.
Have you considered switching to tea?
“T. C. Clark November 22, 2020 at 1:49 pm
I agree that coffee is a necessity…”
Aaaaahhhhhh ha ha ha ha haaaaaa…
Before anyone suggests switching from coffee to tee, listen up!
The Andrews Sisters – Proper Cup Of Coffee (1958)
Just have to hope the virtue signalling religion does not insert other PC “noble” causes like recognition of the 80 odd new genders, critical race theory (it is ALL about race- hating your own race), nature above humans, permanent lockdown until an untested vaccine is inflicted upon humanity etc in to Brexit deals.
The best summary I have seen of critical race theory (unfortunately I can’t remember where) is that it is anti-semitism with the blame for everything expanded from just Jews to all white people.
Clime! Clime! Clime! Clime! Lovely Clime!
Lovely Clime!
Yup, you have to play hardball against the neomarxists and UN resolutionists. When Canada tried to put a bunch of UN resolution fluff into the NA trade agreement along racial and gender rules, child labor, and general factory working conditions, Lighthizer threw them all out, imposed 30% tariffs on steel, aluminum, softwood, aircraft, to bring the negotiating table around to his way of thinking. It was very effective, although unpopular in Canada.
If you want to maintain manufacturing jobs in the UK then you have to have labour rights as part of trade negotiations. Otherwise jobs will go to where the labour is the cheapest which is not the UK. There is no way that the UK or any democratic state can compete with forced labour, child labour etc that happens elsewhere. Otherwise it is just a race to the bottom.
You mean like cobalt mines for batteries etc.
Ah yes, Australia and the US are very well-known for forced child labor izzy. Quite right.
No but animal welfare standards are significantly lower in the US than in the UK. Which means that meat is significantly cheap so any trade deal between the two that doesn’t include animal welfare standards will mean that UK farmers will go bust.
“Izaak Walton November 22, 2020 at 7:19 pm
No but animal welfare standards are significantly lower in the US than in the UK.”
Your evidence of this is?
Patrick,
Have a look at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentrated_animal_feeding_operation
for example. Or the legislation about how whether or not artifical growth hormones
and antibiotics can be routinely given to animals. The US has gone a long way towards factory farming which is bad for the animals but which provides cheap meat. UK farmers can not compete.
“Izaak Walton November 22, 2020 at 9:57 pm”
Wikipedia?! Any actual science based information?
Don’t worry, nobody’s going to take the climate change lies manufacturing jobs away from the UK.
Britain’s gain is not necessarily Australia’s loss. When a sensible person is given an important job it can benefit both countries.
The reference to “theological points” is so apt. A belief in Climate Change is simply that. It is not supported by any evidence and the basis in “greenhouse effect” is unscientific claptrap.
Boris Johnson’s move to eliminate the use of petrol and diesel powered motor vehicles by 2030 is a move the Left will love, and does little for the environment by the introduction of EVs.
EVs require heavy subsidies from taxpayers to enter the market and the people that can afford such cars are the rich. and they usually have a second car fossil fuel powered.
The drawbacks of EVs are the range and the recharging times. Add to this the pollution of disposing of the vehicle’s battery pack when it is no longer useable. The batteries are usually produced in China via coal power. This production alone can emit 25% of the greenhouse gases emitted from a petrol car over its lifetime. And recharging the batteries is via fossil fuel based electricity.
Personal car (fossil fueled) use equates to about 7% of global emissions and EVs will be of little assistance.
Isn’t a politician function to operate for the greater good? Boris Johnson should reconsider this move rather that sidle up to the Biden administrations “green deal” proposals.
PS Tony Abbott is a dedicated, honest politician who as Australia’s PM was “murdered” by the Left MSM.
hopefully TA wil return and resume a leadership role again
If the lefties are sabotaging your industry at home, it is understandable you want your trading partners to suffer the same kind of madness. Otherwise you’ll get to the point where everything is produced in a single country.
What? Everything is made in China these days you say? Oh bugger.
Britain (my country) are finally going to get what they deserve. Their engrained mindset of arrogant moral superiority combined with affected muddleheadedness, with their new climate evangelical missionary zeal, has set them up to go spectacularly a over t on a giant green banana skin. Brexit plus trade war with China (as America’s obedient poodle) plus pandemic plus the 2030 end to energy, is shaping up to be the perfect storm that will sink the ship of state. Debt default, food riots, breakdown of law and order, starvation – all baked in and on the way…
When Tony Abbott was prime minister of Australia he had a climate change ‘believer’ Greg Hunt as his CC minister. Tony Abbott closed the auto industry in Australia. The UK do not need Abbott’s help.
The Australian auto industry closed itself.
Kept wanting more and more hand-outs.
TA had the guts to say .. NO !
“fred250 November 22, 2020 at 6:02 pm
TA had the guts to say .. NO !”
Exactly. How anyone on the line making a Commodore (Which is just assembly) was paid upto AU$110,000 p/a is anyones guess.
Abbott did not “close the auto industry”.
The last auto manufacturer to desert the field in Oz was I believe, Ford.
General Motors followed shortly thereafter.
The main “tipping point” in all this desertion was when Toyota was barred from direct dialogue with their own workforce by an outrageously far left judge, one Mordacai Bromberg, who ruled that Toyota could only deal with unions.
Toyota said “enough”, and even though they and the other auto assemblers enjoyed overly-generous taxpayer subsidies for their businesses, they pulled the plug on operations in Oz.
You have to draw the line against socialist control of your business somewhere, and all the auto assemblers did.
Don’t forget the Rudd(erless) Govn’t gave Toyota AU$92mil one year to develop an Australian made Toyota hybrid! Funny that that year Toyota posted a profit of ~AU$92mil…
As they said in “Muriel’s Wedding” –
“what a coincidence. . .”
Being an Adelaide boy I knew people from both Mitsies and Holdens and anyone who doesn’t think it was union greed that ran the industry into the ground is probably in on the take.
The unions at Mitsubishis claimed that since labour was the lowest percentage component of making a car it could clearly be increased by paying the line workers more. “We are not costing you the earth, so clearly you are not paying us enough”. Head office (Japan) bent the knee and bent the knee right up until they didn’t. Then they said, screw the lot of you. (also the 380 was pig ugly)
Holdens was so deep in union corruption they were stealing engines by simply bringing in a car trailer and driving out with them. Engines. Not talking taking the company toilet paper home, they were stealing full car engines.
Anyway, let us look at dates:
Mitsubishi (Adelaide plant – closed 2008 (Kevin Rudd PM)
Holden (Elizabeth) announced 2014 (a few months after the Rudd/Gillard/Rudd era finally ended)
closed 2017 – (Turnbull)
Toyota (2017) – Turnbull
Ford (2016) – Turnbull
So clearly the Abbott Abbott Abbott monster was so powerful that he ruined manufacturing even when he wasn’t PM.
So what is he? Most powerful man in Australia? Or just a guy hamstrung by union greed?
22 Nov: AP: Trump slams global climate agreement Biden intends to rejoin
By DEB RIECHMANN and AYA BATRAWY
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump railed against the Paris climate accord on Sunday, telling world leaders at a virtual summit that the agreement was designed to cripple the U.S. economy, not save the planet.
“To protect American workers, I withdrew the United States from the unfair and one-sided Paris climate accord, a very unfair act for the United States,” Trump said in a video statement from the White House to the Group of 20 summit hosted by Saudi Arabia. His comments came during a discussion among the world’s largest economies on safeguarding the Earth…
Trump contended the international accord was “not designed to save the environment. It was designed to kill the American economy.”…
During the discussions at the climate session, President Xi Jinping of China, the world’s largest emitter, said the G-20 should continue to take the lead in tackling climate change and push for the full implementation of the Paris accord…
India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, said “climate change must be fought not in silos, but in an integrated, comprehensive and holistic way.”
https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-climate-climate-change-saudi-arabia-5e425ce92e26d34561d629331461289d
Quiz – Odd One Out
– Kevin Rudd
– Julia Gillard
– Tony Abbott
– Malcolm Turnbull
– Scott Morrison
Answer? Tony Abbott – None of the others currently have internationally influential paid jobs.
Er, Abbott receives no payment for his honorary advisor appointment with the UK government.
If Abbott has “served” ~9 years as an elected MP, he can claim full pension and benefits for life!
Yeah, so? That doesn’t alter the fact that he is not being paid specifically for his honorary advisor appointment with the UK government. Any pension benefits he gets, he’s getting regardless of anything else he might or might not do. Bringing it up in regard to his honorary advisor appointment is a non-sequitur.
“… obviously we want to get emissions down as far and as fast as all of us can …” Tony Abbott.
” ‘Obviously’ (colloquial) Used as a filler word, or to introduce information even when not obvious” (Wiktionary).
‘Obviously’ when used as an opener to an opinion is a simple form of ‘begging the question’ because in this case it is not obvious and wasn’t obvious to Mr Abbott five years ago when he was PM of Australia .
Maybe he has been in UK too long.
Or maybe he’s smart enough to know how to play the game. Throw them a bone (say something like “obviously we want to get emissions down”) while you get down to the real business (IE making deals without onerous climate change nonsense add-ons)
Tony Abbott should not be working for the UK GOVT he should still be the Australian Prime minister, we elected him not Turncoat so it is our job to keep him or not.
No! PM’s are not elected.
Cutting emissions in one country will not lower global CO2 unless they ban importation of goods made in other countries… no more new iPhones computers, fridges, ovens, bicycles , cars, trucks, solar panels, wind turbines, heat pumps etc etc as all of these give off CO2
If you don’t ban them, you might as well carry on making them?
not likely to be a problem as the UK has messed up the prospect of deals entirely without any climate element…
The UK used to have 70 trade deals via the EU: at my estimate 48 of those remain to be rolled over or renegotiated with less than 2 months to go… those made were with such titans as the Faroe Islands, excepting Japan and Canada, where we rolled over/got a deal nearly as good as the one we used to have.
On another front, the UK govt is increasing its ambitions on the green and renewables front…
Boris’ girlfriend will soon get him sacked and push green BS to the top of the agenda.
LOL!
She actually works for Oceana, a Rockefeller Foundation eco-tank, which is now deciding UK policy.
Spot on MatthewSykes, Boris Johnson’s “wife” is the one pushing the Green agenda in the UK. Boris needs to show her who wears the trousers at No.10
He already has (and apparently it isn’t him).
An interview with Tony Abbott from a few years ago. Very well describes his approach to things, and that he is a traditional aussie liberal (conservative for USAians)
https://www.spiked-online.com/podcast-episode/britain-must-prepare-for-a-no-deal-brexit/
Tony Abbott was elected in a landslide in Sep 2013 but achieved little as PM (I could post a list) bar abolishing the Labor Carbon Tax. We knew his “heart was in the right place” – but he should have done much more. He was replaced/assassinated by the left-of-centre Malcolm Turnbull in Sep 2015. Since then Australia muddles on run by dills building record debts.