Double D the New Key Player of Brexit

New UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s appointment of Boris Johnson, David Davis and Liam Fox to take Britain out of the EU is a bold move to let pro-Brexit ministers prove that there is a better future outside, reports FT.

The colorful Johnson will attract much of the global press but the most significant of the appointments appears to be David Davis who was named by May "Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union."

The new minister has stated,  “The ideal outcome, (and in my view the most likely, after a lot of wrangling) is continued tariff-free access. Once the European nations realise that we are not going to budge on control of our borders, they will want to talk, in their own interest."

Bravo! trade is good.

Of note, Davis was forced to explain a stunt involving two women with large breasts wearing "It's DD for me" t-shirts during his bid for leadership of the Tory Party in 2005. He said  it was a "sense of humour failure" on his part.

-RW

UPDATE

It appears that DD doesn't get unilateral free trade and the evil of trade support. MarketWatch reports:

He wants the government to take an active role in helping exports: Davis says Britain will have to take a tougher and more active role to ensure export success once it is outside the EU.

“Brexit favours an export-based growth strategy, and that should be what we embrace.”

Some ideas are small — Davis mentions free government advice for small businesses trying to do business with Asia, for example. But some are more substantial. For example, if the EU attempts to slap tariffs on British car exports to the continent, he says, the government should be willing to counter that by supporting the car industry.

“The British government will be in receipt of over £2 billion (about $2.6 billion currently) of levies on EU cars alone. There is nothing to stop us supporting our indigenous car industry to make it more competitive if we so chose.

"WTO rules would not allow us to explicitly offset the levies charged, but we could do a great deal to support the industry if we wanted to. Research support, investment tax breaks, lower vehicle taxes — there are a whole range of possibilities to protect the industry, and if need be, the consumer. Such a package would naturally be designed to favour British consumers and British industry.”