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- "Singapore-on-Thames", sometimes "Singapore-upon-Thames", is a term for a possible model of the British economy after Brexit. Under it, the United Kingdom would greatly diverge from its neighbours in the European Union (EU), offering businesses low tax rates and a much lighter regulatory climate as an alternative, much like Singapore does within its region of Asia. The term arose in the media as a characterisation of remarks made by Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond to a German newspaper in early 2017, to the effect that if the EU refused access to its single market on terms favourable to the UK then the UK would necessarily have to change its economic system to one less like EU countries in order to remain globally competitive, an outcome he did not want. The idea is believed to have originated with Margaret Thatcher's 1989 Bruges speech deploring the increasing regulatory sprawl of what was then still known as the European Economic Community. It inspired some younger members of her Conservative Party to become Eurosceptics, not all of whom initially advocated for Britain's departure from the EU in order to deregulate; some even proposed instead that the EU as a whole should deregulate. Many of those who desired that approach believed until just prior to the 2016 referendum that it was possible for the UK to achieve it while remaining within the EU. It is most popular today among those Brexit supporters with libertarian leanings. The EU has sought to prevent this in its trade negotiations with the UK, insisting on a "level playing field" provision in any trade agreement between the two that would prevent the UK from exploiting jurisdictional arbitrage this way. The idea also has critics in Britain, who point out that Singapore has achieved its economic success and high standard of living as much through government intervention and subsidisation as it has through light regulation, and argue that the real goal of proponents is to lessen worker and consumer protections. Skeptics also note that there are many aspects of Singaporean prosperity which are unique to it and cannot be replicated easily in the UK. The trade agreement between the UK and the EU reached at the end of 2020, just before the former's departure date from the EU, allowed for the EU to take protective measures such as tariffs if the UK tried to gain an advantage through substantial deregulation. Those provisions, and promises from the government of Boris Johnson said it that while it might choose a different model for its labour and employment laws than what it previously had, it would not reduce them from their current level, have been interpreted as rejecting, at least in the near term, the Singapore-on-Thames model. After Liz Truss, Johnson's successor, attempted to introduce low-tax and deregulatory policies in accordance with the model in September 2022, the pound and British government debt fell to new lows in financial markets, the latter so seriously that the Bank of England had to step in to stabilise them. Truss was forced to back away from many of her proposals, causing such chaos in government that she resigned as Prime Minister forty-five days into the job, the shortest premiership ever; in the aftermath of that development, any future push for Singapore-on-Thames is seen as unlikely. (en)
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- "Singapore-on-Thames", sometimes "Singapore-upon-Thames", is a term for a possible model of the British economy after Brexit. Under it, the United Kingdom would greatly diverge from its neighbours in the European Union (EU), offering businesses low tax rates and a much lighter regulatory climate as an alternative, much like Singapore does within its region of Asia. The term arose in the media as a characterisation of remarks made by Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond to a German newspaper in early 2017, to the effect that if the EU refused access to its single market on terms favourable to the UK then the UK would necessarily have to change its economic system to one less like EU countries in order to remain globally competitive, an outcome he did not want. (en)
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