Secrecy, spin and cheap labour ’trade’ deals  http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=3928

EU trade policy is formulated in the interests of transnational finance firms. These firms have a strong presence in the City of London, and thus much of the pressure for a corporate trade agenda comes from the UK. It is trade policy that undermines workers within the EU and especially in the UK, although all this is hidden by secrecy and spin. Without such mechanisms for hiding the truth, and if the UK public had the chance, instead, of information on the commitments being made on their behalf, there would possibly be more resistance to an agenda that has such negative implications for workers. Linda Kaucher writes.

The EU Trade Commission has confirmed that the Agreement is essentially a UK agreement, under the auspices of the EU. Accordingly, the UK will get 85% of the ‘gain’, though this benefit, in investment opportunities, will actually be for transnational financial firms based in London. In return, according to the Commission, the UK should expect 85% of the ‘pain’, which is Mode 4, and it is UK workers who will suffer from that, as bringing in cheap labour means undercutting local workers and job displacement here.