BEST FOR BRITAIN'S

WEEKEND WIRE

Dear John,

The Best for Britain team had one of our biggest weeks yet as we hosted one of the largest events for the UK business community since Brexit. Check out our rundown while we decompress. 

Trade is Unlocked 

On Tuesday, Best for Britain hosted one of the largest conventions on trade policy since Brexit turned the UK economy upside down. Hundreds of business leaders, SMEs, and policymakers descended upon the Birmingham NEC to debate issues in the current trading environment, make industry connections, and most importantly find solutions.

Across four stages, two plenary sessions, over a dozen breakout forums, and ten industry village pods, #TU23 went down as a smashing success, with a flood of positive feedback from speakers and delegates and on social and traditional media. Attendees made their voices heard and voted on policy fixes via the #TU23 app, with many of the recommendations from the UK Trade and Business Commission winning strong support.



More content will be shared from #TU23 will be shared in the coming days, including streams of all our sessions. For live rundowns of the sessions, you can check the Trade Unlocked Twitter and LinkedIn pages. 

Vox opp

The Government may have snubbed an invitation to speak to hundreds of businesses about the economic mess they’ve created at Trade Unlocked, but two of their most prominent replacements in the Opposition turned up to give keynote addresses to the hall.

Shadow International Trade Secretary, Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, made a clear case for improving the post-Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement negotiated by Boris Johnson and said Labour would learn lessons from the US and EU as they implement their Green Prosperity Plan, including a pledge to create “a nationwide network of climate export hubs”.

Shadow Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, promised a major reset to UK-EU relations under Labour, highlighting the importance of trust between the UK and its largest trading partners. He also signalled that Labour are interested in setting up an independent UK Board of Trade, as recommended by the UK Trade and Business Commission.

Trade Splashed 

With hundreds of business leaders and policymakers in attendance at Trade Unlocked, the conference attracted a glut of media coverage. 

Our keynote addresses from Opposition frontbenchers were trialled in Politico’s London Playbook and garnered stories from the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mirror, and Independent ahead of the event.

Shadow International Trade Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds’ speech got a full write-up in Politico and in the Daily Mirror, whose exclusive story from the Trade Unlocked floor revealed that Labour are looking to remove Brexit red tape for musicians and artists seeking to work in the EU. The conference also gained bylines in the Financial Times, Daily Mail, and a host of other local, national, and international press.

Pass revoked

While we were busy in Birmingham, Westminster got on with the business of handing Boris Johnson one of the fattest slices of humble pie he’s had on his plate since…last week. Whether he’ll eat it or whether he’ll try reverse-engineering a Spiderman suit to scale the walls of the Houses of Parliament to get into the estate pubs, only time will tell.

On Monday, as Tory MPs from all corners declined to show up and tried to insist that the very-much-caring public didn’t care about holding Johnson accountable for repeatedly breaching his own lockdown rules, the House voted 354 to 7 to accept the recommendations of the Privileges Committee. One of the ayes was Tobias Ellwood, who conducted a live focus group on LBC and, realising his constituents might express their displeasure with his decision not to turn up for the vote at the polls, hightailed it to SW1.

The result means that Johnson would have been suspended from Parliament for 90 days had he not resigned in disgrace and that his access to the estate as a former member has been revoked. We can only predict that his next move will be throwing all his weight behind a campaign to move Parliament out of the Palace of Westminster for repairs so nobody can use the building in his absence.

Jingle and mingle til’ you’re a national disgrace and you become single

Johnson may have been the Tory most deserving of being metaphorically pilloried by the whole country for lockdown-breaching parties, but he was far from the only one. Last weekend, an exclusive report by the Mirror revealed videos from an unauthorised Christmas party taking place at Conservative Campaign HQ, put on by Shaun Bailey’s failed London mayoral campaign.

The gathering, advertised in an already-infamous invitation beckoning revellers to ‘“jingle and mingle”, was, frankly, far too lame to end up on the national news to attend. In leaked videos, 24 Tory attendees–two of whom received OBEs in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours–booze, dance and twirl around in a harshly-lit room in front of social distancing reminder signs, while a voice in the background says they should be careful about leaking the gathering–we always love a Greek chorus.

Bailey, Michael Gove, and other figures connected to the party have apologised. As of yet, Bailey and fellow shindig attendee Ben Mallett, who is currently working on the mayoral campaign for Tory Mozammel Hossain, have no plans to give back their honours. Hopefully Mallett can make this mayoral campaign more successful–all he needs to do is avoid getting embroiled in another Prime Ministerial career-ending scandal.

Enjoy perusing all our content coming out of Trade Unlocked in the next few days, and spare a thought for our knackered-but-proud team! Bye for now!

Best wishes,
Tommy Gillespie
Research Officer - Best for Britain