The EU Should Not Fret About Singapore-on-Thames

The EU has good political reasons for saying no to partial participation in its internal market. It is right to fear that if it offers this to the UK, others might demand the same, and the web of compromises and bargains that make up the single market might unravel. It is also perfectly reasonable to make Brexit a binary choice between ‘in’ and ‘out’ in order to demonstrate the costs of leaving to europhobes in France, Italy, Poland and Hungary. Brexiters promised a liberal, free-trading, competitive UK after Brexit. This has fed the EU’s fears that Britain will pursue a form of slash-and-burn capitalism that will undermine European markets. But they need not fear that Britain will out-compete the rest of the EU after Brexit: the reverse is all but certain.