British ambassador calls for striking down trade barriers

MILWAUKEE – The British ambassador stressed the importance of breaking down trade barriers during meetings with Gov. Scott Walker and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

Sir Peter Westmacott, making his first trip to Wisconsin, told a reception at MMAC last night that he discussed the British-supported Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. The agreement aims to remove trade restrictions imposed by tariffs and protective practices.

According to Westmacott, such a trade agreement between the European Union and the U.S. could raise the GDP of both by as much as 3 percent.

“It is daft that we still have tariffs against each other,” Westmacott said at the reception, organized by MMAC and WisPolitics.com-WisBusines.com “There’s a lot more that we can do to break down barriers to trade.”

Westmacott also addressed world affairs, saying the activities of the terrorist group ISIS pose a threat to political stability in the Middle East and the security of western nations.

Westmacott outlined the NATO response formulated at a recent meeting and warned of the potential for new terrorist attacks, citing the ability of ISIS to recruit, train, and radicalize fighters from many nations, including the United Kingdom.

“We are in the business of building new coalitions to counter these threats,” Westmacott said. “We want to have many of our regional partners in the Middle East with us as well, so that it’s not just left to two or three western governments to shoulder the burden.”

In recent weeks, the British government implemented new regulations which allow the seizure of passports belonging to suspected terrorists, Westmacott said.

Although the ambassador said the public is “not very keen on getting involved in more wars, and very unkeen about putting combat boots on the ground,” he said limited action to contain ISIS seems to be gaining support. Westmacott said many are concluding further intervention in the Middle East is “inevitable.”

“We are confronted with a threat to civilization and our values, never mind regional stability and the ability of friendly countries to remain intact and not just invaded by people who have the most brutal standards of behavior,” Westmacott said.

He proposed education in religious diversity as a long-term response to extremism, calling Islam a tolerant religion, “distorted, poisoned, and twisted … into some sort of excuse for the most brutal behavior we’ve seen on the face of this planet for a very long time.”

– By Samantha Nash
For WisBusiness.com