Abe says Japan would welcome Britain into TPP

1) Pacific must mean something else in Britain 2) Britain will pull out as soon as more Asians start looking at immigration to the UK. How desperate are the English to salvage something from their brain fart referendum decided by 18% of the electorate. .

Yes... of course we'd welcome you! As long as you don't ask us to open our markets to your food or agricultural products.

Yes... of course we'd welcome you! As long as you don't ask us to open our markets to your food or agricultural products.

Pray tell just what agricultural products does Britain export? I mean that seriously, look at the link here and scroll down to the list of the top 200 products that it does export and you'll see that the bigger one would be Alcohol and pharmaceuticals

http://www.worldstopexports.com/united-kingdoms-top-exports/

@ Yubaru - get with the times! https://www.bbc.com/news/business-40963631 U.K. exports of processed foods, beer, wine, cheese and fish are on the increase and they're focusing on more. But heck.... the numbers are small, I'm sure Japan will give them a total free pass. What do you think?

The Brexit campaigning on both sides was pretty dismal and the figures put forward, outright false in many instances. The sad thing is, with another referendum, there are no guarantees the same thing won't happen again and people make decisions in part on really dodgy information and figures.

It seems to me there is enough momentum behind Brexit for it to go ahead and not enough of a head wind to stop it. The U.K will just have to make the most of things. Expect 10 years in the wilderness at least.

But heck.... the numbers are small, I'm sure Japan will give them a total free pass. What do you think?

I don't think that Japan will do any more than what they agreed to with the EU deal. More alcohol and junk food maybe, but agricultural no I dont think that Abe is willing to go that far.

Dear Abe, British is not a pacific nation, and UK will not move out of Europe either. Brexit is a political movement, not emigration move to Asia.

I can just see the UK joining.

We want to join, for all the nice goodies.

Eventually they will ask for VETO,( like the one they had in the EU) then they'll want exemptions,(similar to the EU) and then they'll want to cut all the visas,(Similar to the EU) that naturally they will give all the asian countries.(Instead of the europeans). Then when nobody really wants to listen to the UK's complaints, the UK will walk off in the huff.

They said immigration was the BIG issue, and yet it was the government of the day that controls everyones visas from outside the EU.

Notice how as the EU citizens are leaving the UK, visas are just being handed out to workers from outside the EU. And getting the best a brightest from the world was just an excuse. They don't need the best and brightest to do the most menial jobs.

Now the English can complain its people from other continents doing all the jobs the English don't want to do.

Or if they wanted to .... they could pay a better wages so the English would take those jobs. But the tories don't want that.

Is this entire feed a remain campaign? Let's have referendums every month or day on it!! You going to pay for it??? You vote remain and next month I want another referendum to leave??? Is that OK??? Deal with democracy. Sometimes you get results you don't like. Both leave and remain campaigns told BS. No government in the UK has had over 50% of the vote for so many decades but they take control. You guys want an election every week until you get the result you want??? Pay for it yourselves.

18 % of the electorate!! 100,000,000 people eligible to vote in the UK??? Really Simon g????

Some good news at last, from Japan I mean. I've been hoping that they'd be a bit more supportive of our decision to leave the EU. I do understand their concerns about the ability to continue trading in the EU, but even so I was a little disappointed to see a lack of support, so this is a welcome change. I've long been a firm believer that Britain and Japan should form closer ties. Including Britain in the TPP would be a big step towards that. Both sides stand to benefit from it in their own ways.

@Stuart123 I know how you feel. A lot of commentators here seem to be either Remain voters or not even living in Britain and thus misinformed about the referendum and what went on during it. They rely too much on the media, but the news coverage was very biased, painting all Leave voters as primitive bigots while trying to deify Remain voters. Ignorance at its finest, basically.

It is a very kind gesture from PM Abe, but the UK already Does trade with the nations in TPP.

 Britain will pull out as soon as more Asians start looking at immigration to the UK

Why would it? The TPP has nothing like the EU's "free movement of people." Which makes it a great fit for the UK. There's no way Japan or any of the non-Western TPP members would ever permit no border/immigration controls. LOL.

Mind you, it would be nice, as a Canadian, to find very nice but very affordable lodgings in at a Vietnamese beach resort and live there indefinitely, maybe even off public assistance, as EU people can do.

@Bubblegun

You are deliberately conflating "The UK", "The English" and "The Tories", It's intellectually lazy, but it's easy to make broad-stroke statements, so that's why people do it.

"The English" are not opposed to immigration. They are opposed to uncontrolled, limitless immigration which has caused wage depression.

The British Government, whoever is in power, does whatever its likes (including allowing mass immigration to continue) without the support of the of the majority of the public.

Japan and Britain are unlikely to suddenly develop a political union if they arrange trade agreements. So, your comparison is a bit silly.

So, if Britain joins the Trans Pacific Pact, would that mean they have to change the name?

Given that Australia, New Zealand and Canada are in the TPP I think its more likely they join the TPP if CANZUK goes ahead because the U.K would be forced to an extent, to align their trade policies with those of the other 3 countries on what would be a more comprehensive trade and free movement pact under CANZUK

Tangerine2000Today  04:23 pm JST

@Bubblegun

You are deliberately conflating "The UK", "The English" and "The Tories", It's intellectually lazy, but it's easy to make broad-stroke statements, so that's why people do it.

"The English" are not opposed to immigration. They are opposed to uncontrolled, limitless immigration which has caused wage depression.

The British Government, whoever is in power, does whatever its likes (including allowing mass immigration to continue) without the support of the of the majority of the public. 

Actually i disagree the UK is not based on the English and i was specifically referring to the English who voted to leave. Scotland did not vote to leave as neither did Northern Ireland. The tories which does not speak for Scotland or Northern Ireland was voted in by the English majority.

The whole point of the UK saying they are upset about immigration doesn't seem to be reflective of the views in NI or in Scotland. In fact, in regards to the immigration problem, there was a limit, however the PM May et al, who was in charge of immigration allowed unfettered immigration from other areas of the world, even though it was the Tory gov who constantly said they'd reduce it to 100,000 while immigration was the number one issue cited by the public during the referendum. However everyone wished to blame the EU workers doing the work that the Brits didn't want. The government, and T May certainly had control of immigration and when you consider more immigrants from outside the EU we should ask why the UK did not cut the numbers. If 150,000 brits leave the UK, then this has to be replaced by 150,000+

In fact if you look at the figures from the home office today, you will see that even though immigration from the EU has fallen it has only moved the figures to immigrants from NON EU nations.So immigration hasn't fallen at all.

Further more if this caused wage depression, then instead of blaming the immigrants the blame should be placed on the companies, government and share holders. It is they who control wages, and there was nothing to stop any of them increasing wages. Unfortunately, Cheap labour, shareholders, company profits are number one, not wage increases. Remember even tips are skimmed from the workers now.

Blaming immigrants for doing the jobs, nobody wants to do is the problem, and to a society that doesn't want to pay any more for goods and services .If you buy cheap someone is working cheap.

We should also remind ourselves that it was the Tory government that said, If you want to stay in the EU you must vote to remain in the Union.So Scotland voted accordingly only for the English vote to PULL Scotland out of the EU, and yet non of the English MPs were voted in by Scotland. Seems to be the same excuse used by the brexiteers that unelected people in Brussels make the British do things against their will.

However this could easily be the same situation in regards to Scotland. Unelected MPs forcing Scotland out of something it voted for, and that was to remain not only in the UK but also in the EU. As a Scot who voted to remain in the UK I now feel that the tories put party before country, and once the UK leaves it will take all the reason away for staying actually staying in the UK.

I'm not sure where you're getting the English are "blaming immigrants for doing jobs" from. Again, the English are blaming the politicians of all parties for constantly promising to cut immigration, then doing the complete opposite.

It's quite interesting that the Scots' view on immigration is pretty much the same as the English.

https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/scots-and-english-hold-similar-views-on-immigration-poll-1-4549780

I'm all in favor of Scotland having another indy ref after Brexit has finished.

But the point still stands, Japan and the UK won't have a political union as you were comparing it to the UK and the EU.

Tangerine2000Oct. 8  09:06 pm JST

https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/scots-and-english-hold-similar-views-on-immigration-poll-1-4549780

I'm all in favor of Scotland having another indy ref after Brexit has finished. 

But the point still stands, Japan and the UK won't have a political union as you were comparing it to the UK and the EU.

I totally agree with you on the UK and Japan won't have any political union, however when rules are set, closer ties maybe implemented, then I think the UK, and of course others too, will start to ask for exemptions.

You are totally right in having similar views, but there is a completely different discourse.

“There is a different, more welcoming tone to the immigration debate in Scotland, where as south of the border there is certainly a different flavour to the debate.

Scotland has historically suffered depopulation, and can certainly see benefits to immigration.

I suppose the where am i getting the "English" is primarily because there is constant belief that there is now more of an English nationalism, as well as Scottish nationalism. Even when you watch something as simple as and Englishman winning gold he is classed as English but when a Scotsman does something he becomes British.

As much a I feel British I wonder what is it that the British celebrate to be British?

Must it just be around the defeat of Germany in WW2, and WW1, the Battle of Britain, etc etc, and let's remember it was Churchill who advocated for a United Europe and at its heart Germany and France must be at the heart of it. I do think though maybe the Union has passed it purpose, when the South of the Border focuses just on London and the South to the detriment of the other regions for decades, and sadly I think the UK will suffer for it. When a decision is made in Westminster that only effects Scotland, it is seen as a decision made by the British. Poll Tax is a great example of that.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/may/20/england-identity-crisis-english-euro-scottish-elections-ukip-patriotism

BTW I'm glad for the discussion.:-)

"Trans Pacific trade pact"

What part of the Pacific is Britain located in?? Maybe my geography is a bit off.

18 % of the electorate!! 100,000,000 people eligible to vote in the UK

oops , my brain fart. should be 36% of the electorate.

Maybe my geography is a bit off.

If Australia can take part in the Eurovision Song Contest, what's the problem?

Scapegoat, why they aren't even in the Pacific

If Australia can take part in the Eurovision Song Contest, what's the problem?

The only thing more ridiculous then that is South Africa joining the USMCA (NAFTA) trade agreement

Matt Hartwell makes a good point. Canada, Australia and NZ are part of the TPP. CANZUK is those countries and the UK. Economically, and diplomatically they/we and Japan are a good fit - especially if the UK is looking for trade partners outside the EU. Historically CANZUK+US is also a military alliance, and the rise of China means that all the countries mentioned above will need to co-operate more, not less.

The world is changing radically. New blocs are forming. Whether it be 'the Quad' (Japan/US/AU/India), CANZUK, the TPP, or the Anglosphere (and I suspect it will end up being all of them aligning together to various degrees), things WILL change from currently. Bring it on! This Aussie would love to see our proven friends trade together, work together diplomatically, and if necessary back the 'rules based order' that China challenges - the ideals of which have underpinned Western growth, peace and freedom since WW2.