One noteworthy feature of Brexit coverage is British commentators and even worse, officials, reassuring themselves and their audiences that the EU’s firm insistence that the UK will not be able to cherry-pick will melt when they understand that the UK has real bargaining leverage.
Based on the arguments I have seen so far, the Eurocrats aren’t at any risk of these supposed trump cards working out as envisaged. For instance, over the weekend the Telegraph published, George Osborne is threatening the EU with a giant tax haven right on its doorstep. From the story:
Either way, Mr Osborne had a helpful suggestion today. Britain needs to act fast to signal to international investors that it is going to be a hospitable and profitable place to do business. His statement that Britain should aim for corporation tax rate of 15 per cent is not a bad start. That would be a cut of 5 percentage points and give us the lowest rate in the G7 by some margin….