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?”
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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.
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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.