British Diplomat Silenced After Winning E.U. Exit Prize

Earlier this week the Institute of Economic
Affairs (IEA), a free market think tank in London, awarded its
Brexit Prize of €100,000 (around $139,000) to 30-year-old Iain
Mansfield for his blueprint of what the U.K. should do if it left
the European Union. Those who submitted proposals for consideration
were asked to assume that the British people had already voted to
leave the E.U. in a referendum. Over 150 were proposals were
received.

You can read Mansfield’s award-winning proposal, A Blueprint
for Britain—Openness not Isolation,
here.

Steve Davies, the IEA’s education director, summarized Mansfield
proposals in a
blog post:

Mansfield makes clear that the decision whether to leave or
remain in the EU is ultimately political, rather than economic.
Arguing that there is no overwhelming economic case against an
exit, the calculation of the likely effects depends on how certain
negotiations pan out. He estimates that the long-term impact would
be somewhere between minus 2.6 per cent and plus 1.1 per cent of
GDP, with a best estimate at plus 0.1 per cent.

To take maximum advantage of Brexit, however, Mansfield sets out
the features of a broad new macroeconomic and political strategy,
based on openness and actively pursuing trade and political links
with both Europe and countries in other parts of the world, like
China. For the foreseeable future, the most rapid growth is going
to take place outside Europe, and developing links with these
dynamic parts of the world should be a crucial priority for any
British government. This doesn’t mean turning our back on Europe.
His entry also calls for Britain to rejoin the European Free Trade
Association, while remaining outside the European Economic Area.
Our relationship would have a degree of closeness somewhere between
the positions of Switzerland and Turkey today.

Mansfield also proposes a series of measures to preserve
Britain’s position as the number one inward investment destination
in Europe. Britain would draw up a Great Repeal Bill that would
repeal many (but not all) of the EU regulations currently
incorporated into UK law. This would have to involve a detailed
selection process, and could bring significant economic benefits.
Candidates include the Working Time Directive, EU bans on
pesticides, binding renewable energy targets, and health and safety
laws imposed on businesses operating purely domestically.

There are also other detailed policy recommendations. For
example, he suggests reducing corporation tax to 15 per cent over
five years, and using some of Britain’s estimated £10bn annual EU
contribution to cut the deficit.

You would think that after winning such a handsome reward from
an established think tank for work done on one of the most
contentious issues in British politics Mansfield would be doing
many media interviews.

Mansfield will not be getting any exposure through the media,
however, because of his employer: the British government. Mansfield
is the director of trade and investment at the British embassy in
Manila.

Her Majesty’s Government has made it clear that the British
people will not have a referendum on E.U. membership during the
current parliament, and Prime Minister David Cameron has said that
he wants the U.K. to remain in the trading bloc. According to

The Telegraph, Mansfield was banned from making media
appearances and his economics blog has been taken down after he won
the prize.

Mansfield had been given permission from his employers in Manila
to enter the Brexit Prize competition.

Disclosure: I used to work at the Institute of Economic
Affairs.