Among those in favour of Brexit, there is a widely held belief that a favourable trade deal can easily be negotiated with the United States. But this flies in the face of the evidence: throughout history, the US has proved to be a ruthless negotiator where its economic interests are involved.
It is not simply a matter of chlorinated chicken and expanded access by private companies to the NHS. These are but indicators of the probable effects of opening British markets to US producers which are bound to be much deeper in their impacts. Wholesale de-regulation of systems of production and distribution are bound to be demanded by the US negotiators, with massive environmental destruction and a sharp worsening of employment conditions for the British workforce.
There are lessons of history which seem only too relevant to current economic policy in the UK. The following analysis discusses issues arising from US and UK relationships at a time of real crisis – the period of the Second World War between 1940 and 1945, and its immediate aftermath.
