Voting for Brexit hasn’t saved us from secretive trade deals
by Phillip Inman from on (#2BFB2)
Once the UK leaves the EU, Liam Fox will be presented with arrangements more secretive and toxic than anything the EU has ever demanded
A turbocharged version of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) could be heading Britain's way after Theresa May's Brexit white paper. That's the upsetting irony for those (and there were a few) who voted to leave the European Union to escape nasty trade deals that involve secret courts to resolve corporate disputes.
These are the courts that some of the world's biggest companies have used when they want to overturn local laws that jeopardise their profits. Tobacco company Philip Morris was a keen exponent. Its legal suits in Australia, Uruguay and others against plain cigarette packaging caused an outcry and cost the respective governments millions of pounds in legal fees, even though it failed.
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