Rust belt

The American mid-west is known as the 'rust belt'. Free trade meant that Chinese imports (in particular) undercut the products of industries in the mid-west, causing them to fail. Chinese imports explain 40% of the decline in American manufacturing. US manufacturers reduced wages to compete - every $1 million worth of imports in their sector leading to them imposing a wage bill reduction of $500,000. A third of all manufacturing jobs were lost.

Death rates went up sharply - mainly due to increases in suicide and drug/alcohol poisoning - social problems increased, living standards plummeted.

On the other hand, consumers all through the USA benefited from lower prices, allowing them to have a higher standard of living without any increase in their wages.

So free trade is good for many people, but there will always be some losers. Allowing free trade means allowing other countries to undercut your own industries. This is where the benefits - and the costs - actually come from. The benefits are from cheaper goods, meaning higher living standards for the general population, the costs are to the people who worked in the local industries that are now uncompetitive.

North Americans on average have one of the highest standards of living in the world. The US also has one of the highest levels of inequality in the developed world.

Cutting our regulatory ties with the EU would give us the chance to emulate the US. The Brextremists say they want to leave so they can cut tariffs and promote free trade. The don't mention that this will mean redundancies and poverty for workers in the exposed sectors. The irony is that Leave supporters will be hit harder on average than the Remain voters when jobs disappear.

Furthermore, this is the best-case scenario, and how free trade is intended to work (trading countries specialise in what they are best at and trade for the rest). Whether we can achieve that is another question.

We are dumping a free-trade agreement with one of the biggest economies in the world, one that is right on our doorstep, and aim to replace it with piecemeal agreements with smaller and more distant countries.

Our most lucrative exports are of financial services, and the process of the UK drawing more and more such business from the EU followed the free trade formula perfectly. Without Brexit we would have continued using our leverage to crack open the services market further.

Maybe we can somehow continue to capitalise on our expertise if we lose single market access, however many sectors are going to suffer, many people are going to suffer. Mr Hammond and Mrs May are right to try to keep our access for as long as is possible.