Empty EU threats

SIR, – I was unsure whether to laugh or laugh when I saw that the EU has decided to try blackmailing the UK into a trade deal. It is saying it will only allow us into the free market if we accept unlimited immigration.
If it wants a trade war then let’s give it one. We have 27 countries around the globe queuing up to do business with the UK since we opted for Brexit and, while it would be nice to continue to trade with France, Germany and the rest, it really isn’t an essential for us.
However, for the EU, trading with the UK is as vital as breathing.
The EU is not threatening from a position of strength. Its share of world trade has fallen dramatically in recent years from more than 30% in 1980 to just 18.3% in 2014 and projected to fall to less than 10% by 2039.
Despite that, it is now threatening one of its biggest export markets with a trade war.
In the last six years, the EU has sold the UK a staggering £190bn worth of goods, more than we have sold to the EU. Is it really going to put such a market at risk simply to enforce ‘free movement’, one of the main reasons so many voted to leave in the first place?
Over that same six years, our trade around the globe has been making this country a £21bn surplus and with the 27 new trade deals in place as soon as we get out of the EU that can only increase.
Looked at from its perspective Brussels is, effectively, saying: “Take free movement of people or we will plunge the rest of the EU into a minimum £31bn per year financial hole by not trading with you”.
On top of that, we have all those car makers, cheese and wine producers and the rest across the EU who will be pressuring for the markets to remain open.
‘Blackmail’? Don’t give up the day job, Mr Juncker. As I said, I was unsure to laugh or laugh at the thought.