That’s business secretary, Greg Clark, so presumably this is the official government position.So what I said is that our objective would be to ensure that we have continued access to the markets in Europe and vice versa without tariffs and without bureaucratic impediments and that is how we will approach those negotiations.
Problem is it’s also official government position to do something about immigration, i.e. to negotiate a deal which does not include free movement of people.
And they can’t have both. Either we are in the Single Market, like we are now and like Norway and Switzerland are, and have free movement of people. Or we are outside the Single Market and have tariffs and “bureaucratic impediments” like everyone else outside it.
The government still seems to think they can have their cake and eat it: telling Brexit supporters that, yes, they will do something about immigration at the same time as telling businesses like Nissan not to worry about tariffs and other barriers to trade. But such a deal will not be on offer I am sure: even if some countries are willing to compromise, some won’t, and every country has a veto.
(bureaucratic impediments are actually worse than tariffs; right now if you want to export to the rest of the EU you just load your goods into a lorry (or boat, or plane) and take them to other countries to sell. But if you are outside the EU you can’t do that. You might need a licence to import goods to the EU. There will be inspections and checks and delays at the border. There will be forms and paperwork, in part to ensure any tariffs and duties are paid. Tariffs are just a cost of business but the other impediments are far worse and can render some sorts of trade, in perishable goods or just-in-time supply chains, impractical)
