Chapter 1074： From the Far East (1/2)

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes. Once interest is involved, everything becomes complicated.

Some people oppose ”free trade”, and others support it. Not everyone is a victim of ”free trade”. On the contrary, many industries in Britain are also beneficiaries of free trade.

For example: the coal industry.

Since the last century, Britain has been the world's largest coal exporter. Today, nearly one-third of Britain’s coal production capacity is used for export.

Once the free trade system is withdrawn, the good days of coal bosses will end. With tariff barriers, British coal will lose its cost advantage.

If the energy industry cannot monopolize the market, their core competitiveness is cost. Without the cost advantage, the market is almost inevitable.

Another example: the textile industry.

Although the textile industry has been severely impacted with the unfolding of the industrialization wave, Britain is still the world's number one textile exporter.

Because the economic development market has become larger, even though the share of British textiles in the international market has shrunk, the total textile exports have not fallen much.

Data is all fictitious, only making money is real. Regardless of the future market prospects, at least it is still profitable for now.

Once they withdraw from the free trade system, one of these export-oriented enterprises will count as one, and no one can expect to have a good life.

Driven by interests, Britain's business sector has already divided. The palms of the palms and the backs of the hands are all fleshy, and the consortium leaders who control the industry and commerce behind the scenes also have a headache.

You can never make a decision by taking it for granted. In essence, a consortium is a group of capital interests and does not have a strong binding force.

The strength of the consortium is when everyone's interests are aligned. Now that there are differences among members, the power of the consortium has actually been weakened to the extreme.

If the interests of some members are seriously damaged, the consortium may split within minutes. In this context, what the consortium leaders can do is to reconcile the contradictions between the parties as much as possible.

If the internal division of capital occurs, the question of whether to withdraw from the free trade system is naturally impossible to settle immediately.

Without trade barriers to protect the market, the London government’s economic stimulus policy would be useless.

Regardless of how the policies are stimulated, industries that do not work will always fail. Products do not have market competitiveness, and no amount of preferential policies are used.

If economic problems cannot be resolved, political reform will be even more difficult. Except for the passage of the industry dispute bill involving the economy, most of the reform proposals submitted by the Campbell administration were rejected by the upper house.

For example: reducing the power of the House of Lords, supporting Ireland's autonomy, and giving the colonies higher autonomy...

With so many moving cheese reform proposals, the Campbell administration soon became sad.

In order to safeguard their own interests, the conservatives were forced to unite together, using the parliament as a position to start a ”fire war” with the reformers.

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Downing Street, the prime minister's residence.

Looking into the distance through the window, Prime Minister Campbell sighed deeply. At this moment, his mood was similar to the weather in London, and it was all gray.

As a sign of the advent of the industrial age, London has been shrouded in smog since the last century.

Especially in winter, visibility is less than 50 meters, which is common. Had it not been for the invention of fog lights, London would not be able to drive in winter.

Campbell can't care about the weather. Since the beginning of the reform, he has not had a good night's sleep, and countless troubles come to his door every day.

Conservatives and reformers have quarreled, and the contradiction between the two sides has almost become public. The battlefield spread from the original parliament to the whole society.

Broadcasting newspapers are the main battlefield of the controversy between the two sides.

”The public says that the public is reasonable, and the mother-in-law says the mother is reasonable.”

As the controversy unfolded, not to mention ordinary people, even the intellectuals and middle-class elites were confused.

In fact, Campbell himself is a little trapped. Although he proposed the reform policy, Campbell is not sure that the reform will succeed after listening to the reasons of the opposition.

The persimmon is looking for softness. Political reforms are put aside first. The most important thing at the moment is to reform the economy and reverse the deteriorating domestic economic situation.

Only when the economic reform is successful and sufficient prestige is established can further political reform be promoted.

After releasing his emotions, Campbell turned around and asked, ”Who has the upper hand outside now?”

Unlike other countries, there is not much power gap between reformers and conservatives in Britain.

Then there was a strange scene, in the course of the debate, no one can overwhelm anyone.

Today the reformists have the upper hand, and tomorrow the conservatives have the upper hand. No one knows what the final result will be.

The confusing situation has made speculators in the government afraid to stand in line. Without the help of bureaucrats, how can reforms proceed?

Minister of the Interior Azevedo: ”There is no result yet. The strength of the die-hards is too strong, and I am afraid it will be difficult to tell the winner in a short time.

However, the agricultural guilds we have wooed have already moved, and it is in their interests to withdraw from the free trade system. ”

Compared to the business sector, the British farmers are the real tragedy. Limited by geological conditions, there is not much land suitable for agricultural development in the British Isles, and the cost of agricultural production is relatively high.

Facing the impact of foreign agricultural products, British agriculture can be described as ”only parry, but no fight back.”

But they can't make a fuss, because Britain's food production simply cannot meet their own needs.

Since it is imported food, naturally the cheaper the better. All sectors of society are standing together, and the interests of farmers will naturally be sacrificed.

It is not only ordinary farmers who have lost their interests, but also farmers and nobles who own the land.

They have a say in politics, but compared to the business community, their power is obviously much weaker.

In order to change this passive situation, these people organized agricultural guilds. Unite politically to fight for their own interests.

From the sales prices of agricultural products on the market, it can be seen that the agricultural guild has not achieved the goal that everyone expected.

It's not that the agricultural guild doesn't work hard, but the politicians are too shameless. Say one thing before going on stage, and do another thing after going on stage.

After investing many times, they all ended in failure, so that everyone lost confidence.

If it weren't for being frightened, these guys would have been involved long ago, and abolishing the free trade system and implementing tariff barriers would be a major benefit to agriculture.

Prime Minister Campbell nodded and sighed: ”It's best to be so! Otherwise, the stalemate will continue to cause too much harm to the country.”

There was no mention of the agricultural guild, and obviously Campbell was not prepared to fulfill his promise.

There is no alternative. Britain’s food production is limited and cannot meet its own needs. Imports are inevitable.

Protecting agriculture means rising prices of agricultural products. This is bound to increase the pressure on the working class to survive, and the cost of labor for enterprises will also rise.

The capitalists are not vegetarians, and every increase in labor costs is won by the working class.

One bad thing is the nationwide wave of strikes. Just thinking about the terrible consequences is enough to make any politician daunted.

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