Special Relationship? - It's Gone - Can UK Forget USA And Do A Deal With The EU

1st May 2025

As Canada and China have shown there is only one way to deal with a bully - cut them off.

Important as it has been in the past the so-called special relationship with USA has been torpedoed by president Trump whose nonsense pronouncements on tariffs shows no understanding about how trade works.

Richard Murphy in his blog said It's time Starmer and Reeves cut the crap and talked about the reality of our relationship with the US, which is toxic.

He references and article in the Guardian
Donald Trump has made a trade deal with the UK a second-order priority, sources have told the Guardian, hampering British attempts to meet their mid-May deadline.

US officials have decided to split their negotiations with more than a dozen other countries into three phases, with the UK being placed in either phase two or three, according to people who have been briefed on the talks.

A trade deal with the US would be the biggest prize for British negotiators, who made major strides toward separate agreements with the EU and India on Tuesday.

But UK officials fear that a deal with the EU, which they hope to agree at a summit on 19 May, could make it more difficult to negotiate with a Trump administration that repeatedly criticises European trade policies.

The Runaround
The UK should perhaps follow the lead from Canada and China and for now forget a deal with our now less than friendly ally. If the art of the deal by Donald Trump is to keep changing the rules we should face reality