Brexit VI

For John, BLUF:  Bring them on board.  We've got relatives there.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Brexit boosts 'CANZUK' replacement for European Union

CANZUK?

Think about it.  You get the UK bit, they have been in the news lately.  The CAN part can be confusing, since it is three nations, Canada, Australia and the "New" in New Zealand.

After a lot of preamble, Mr James C. Bennett, writing in USA Today, gets down to the heart of the issue.

Contrary to the statements of the outgoing President Obama, many voices in the US political scene urge rapid conclusion of a US-UK free trade agreement.  British workers have wages and benefits of the same order of magnitude as American workers, and unlike some nations, Britain has a sterling reputation for complying with obligations of its international trade agreements.  It is free of many of the objections of larger more complex trade agreements than have drawn opposition in recent years.

Beyond that, there is an interesting development, which to date, has been under the radar of most international political observers, but which now has been given a green light by yesterday’s and today’s events.  This is the growing movement for closer ties between Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, the so-called CANZUK nations.  A Change.org petition calling for bureaucracy-free movement between those 4 nations recently gained over 100,000 signatures in a few months without any financial backing or big names in support.  Boris Johnson, the flamboyant ex-mayor of London, and now victorious leader of the Leave movement in the Brexit referendum, has endorsed CANZUK free movement as a near term goal.

While I like these ideas, my view is we should offer statehood to the UK, with different parts becoming difference states.  What divides us is less than what unites us.  And let the Queen move to Canada, but keep her estates.  We aren't some Henry VIII.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff