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Kit Malthouse accused the Confederation of British Industry of wanting to cling on to the single market, which he said favoured big business.

The CBI and top firms are meeting Brexit secretary David Davis on Friday to push their desire to stay in the single market and customs union.

Appearing on Daily Politics on the BBC, the MP for North West Hampshire said: The CBI represents large businesses generally and it doesnt surprise me that they would want to cling on to this kind of corporatist racket that has suited them for so long.

Small business I think would have a much more different view.

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The EU is generally accepted to be a bit of a corporatist racket

Tory MP Kit Malthouse

Host Jo Coburn picked the former deputy mayor of London for business and enterprise up on the point.

She said: Is that how you regard the CBI, that their voice is clinging to a corporatist racket?

Mr Malthouse replied the European Union favoured enormous businesses who were not forward facing.

Yeah, I mean the EU is generally accepted to be a bit of a corporatist racket, he said. It favours enormous businesses who are not as agile, not as forward facing, not as globally facing and they like the protectionist approach of the EU.

So it doesnt surprise me that they want to hold on to it.

Britain's top business leaders are co-ordinating a plot to derail Brexit by demanding the country stay in the single market and customs union.

The CBI and the leaders of other top firms, are meeting Brexit secretary David Davis in Chevening, Kent, to push their case for a softerBrexit.

In a sign of whats to come, the CBI last night called on the Government to reach a deal with theEuropean Unionthat protects businesses and delays the UK's exit.

However, the Brexit team has said it wants the UK to leave the single market at the end of formal EU exit negotiations in March 2019.

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David Davis and Michel Barnier give a press conference at the end of a meeting at EU Commission in Brussels

Director General of the CBI,Carolyn Fairbairn warned that the likelihood that Britain would get this done on time was impossible.

Ms Fairbairn said: Instead of a cliff edge, the UK needs a bridge to the new EU deal.

Even with the greatest possible goodwill on both sides, its impossible to imagine the detail will be clear by the end of March 2019. This is a time to be realistic."

Her proposals would force Britain to accept free movement of EU citizens and still be governed by the European Court of Justice.

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'It's a corporatist racket!' Tory MP bashes big businesses for EU single market whining - Express.co.uk

Donald Trump, for all his rhetorical clumsiness and intellectual limitations, still sometimes makes a valid point. He does when he says that Germany is very bad on trade. However much Berlin claims innocence and good intentions, the fact remains that the euro heavily stacks the deck in favor of German exporters and against others, in Europe and further afield. It is surely no coincidence that the countrys trade has gone from about balance when the euro was created to a huge surplus amounting at last measure to over 8 percent of the economywhile at the same time every other major EU economy has fallen into deficit. Nor could an honest observer deny that the bias distorts economic structures in Europe and beyond, perhaps most especially in Germany, a point Berlin also seems to have missed.

The euro was supposed to help all who joined it. When it was introduced at the very end of the last century, the EU provided the world with white papers and policy briefings itemizing the common currencys universal benefits. Politically, Europe, as a single entity with a single currency, could, they argued, at last stand as a peer to other powerful economies, such as the United States, Japan and China. The euro would also share the benefits of seigniorage more equally throughout the union. Because business holds currency, issuing nations get the benefit of acquiring real goods and services in return for the paper that the sellers hold. But since business prefers to hold the currencies of larger, stronger economies, it is these countries that tend to get the greatest benefit. The euro, its creators argued, would give seigniorage advantages to the union as a whole and not just its strongest members.

All, the EU argued further, would benefit from the increase in trade that would develop as people worried less over currency fluctuations. With little risk of a currency loss, interest rates would fall, giving especially smaller, weaker members the advantage of cheaper credit and encouraging more investment and economic development than would otherwise occur. Greater trade would also deepen economic integration, allow residents of the union to choose from a greater diversity of goods and services, and offer the more unified European economy greater resilience in the face of economic cycles, whether they had their origins internally or from abroad.

It was a pretty picture, but it did not quite work as planned. Instead of giving all greater general advantages, the common currency, it is now clear, locked in distorting and inequitable currency mispricings. These began with the enthusiasm in the run up to the currency union. High hopes for countries such as Greece, Spain, Portugal, and to a lesser extent Italy, had bid up the prices of their individual national currencies. In time, reality would have adjusted such overpricing back to levels better suited to each economys fundamental strengths and weaknesses. But the euro froze them in place, making permanent what otherwise would have been a temporary pressure. At the same time, Germany, which at the time was still suffering from the economic difficulties of its reunification, joined the common currency with a weak deutsche mark, locking in a rate, International Monetary Fund (IMF) data suggests, some 6 percent below levels consistent with German economic fundamentals.

Right from the start, then, the currency union divided the Eurozone into two classes of economies. Greece, Spain Portugal, Italy, and others became the consumers. Because the euro had locked in their overpriced currencies, populations in these countries had the sense that they had more global purchasing power than their economic fundamentals could support and consumed accordingly. At the same time, the currency overpricing put producers in these countries at a competitive disadvantage. Germany, having locked in a cheap currency position, faced the opposite mix. It became the producer for all Europe even as its own consumers, feeling a little poorer than they otherwise might have, remained cautious. Because Germans in this situation had every incentive to sustain production, while others did not, they made more productive investments, improving their economic fundamentals and so widening the gap between economic reality and the euros expression of it. Updated IMF data suggests that by 2016 Germanys relative pricing edge had doubled to 12 percent.

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The European Union Has a Currency Problem - The National Interest Online

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EU and Japan reach free trade deal BBC News The European Union and Japan have formally agreed an outline free-trade deal. The agreement paves the way for trading in goods without tariff barriers between two of the world's biggest economic areas. However, few specific details are known and a full ... Japan, European Union Strike New Trade DealWall Street Journal (subscription) The EU-Japan Trade Deal: What's in It and Why It MattersNew York Times Japan and Europe counter Trump with colossal trade dealWashington Post Reuters -The Guardian all 366 news articles »

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EU and Japan reach free trade deal - BBC News

ANKARA The European Parliament called on Thursday for Turkey's European Union accession talks to be suspended if Ankara fully implements plans to expand President Tayyip Erdogan's powers, in a vote which Turkey dismissed as flawed and wrong.

The parliament has limited influence on Turkey's decades-old pursuit of EU membership, now in limbo after bitter exchanges between Ankara and some European countries, but the decision highlighted the gulf which has grown between the two sides.

EU leaders have been critical of Erdogan and his behavior toward opponents, both before and after an abortive military coup against him last July.

A year-long crackdown since the failed coup and the sweeping new powers which Erdogan won in a tightly fought referendum in April have raised concerns among Turkey's Western allies.

Erdogan says both the crackdown and the increased presidential powers are needed to help tackle serious challenges to Turkey's security both at home and beyond its borders.

The resolution passed by parliament in Strasbourg "calls on the Commission and the member states... to formally suspend the accession negotiations with Turkey without delay if the constitutional reform package is implemented unchanged."

Some constitutional changes approved in April have already been implemented - Erdogan has been able to return to lead the ruling AK Party, and members of a top judicial body have been changed. Other steps, such as scrapping the post of prime minister, are due to take place within two years.

Opposition parties and human rights groups say the changes threaten judicial independence and push Turkey toward one-man rule. The EU has also expressed concern, although many in the European Parliament believe the bloc has not gone far enough.

"The current strategy of the European Commission and EU leaders seems to wait silently for things to improve in Turkey," said the European Parliament's lead negotiator on Turkey, Kati Piri, criticizing a stance which she said was "feeding President Erdogans authoritarianism".

"FALSE CLAIMS"

Turkey's EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik said Ankara regarded Thursday's vote in Strasbourg as invalid, while the foreign ministry was similarly dismissive.

"This decision, which is based on false claims and allegations, is trampling the reputation of the institution in question," the ministry said in a statement, referring to the European Parliament. "This decision is of no value for us."

Thursday's vote came as EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn visited Istanbul for talks with Celik and other Turkish ministers.

"As a European official I have to respect the decision of a democratic body," Hahn told reporters, adding that he had raised the issue of the rule of law during his talks in Ankara.

He also raised the case of 12 rights activists detained on Wednesday, but said he had not received a satisfactory reply.

Hahn said Turkey has the right to defend its institutions in the wake of last year's failed coup, but added: "I want to be very clear that we are very worried about the reaction, very concerned about the large number of imprisoned journalists and academics."

"I really want to move forward in such an important strategic relationship. It depends on Turkey's willingness, and (taking) steps on the rule of law and fundamental rights."

Despite their concerns over Turkey, EU leaders do not want to undermine an agreement struck last year whereby Ankara effectively stopped migrants reaching Greece from Turkish shores, thereby easing a crisis that had threatened EU unity.

In an interview on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told Reuters that Turkey was not responsible for the escalation of tensions between the two sides.

"Europe displaying inappropriate behavior toward Turkey is not a situation we can accept. Being against our President Erdogan is also not a rational stance from Europe. Europe must decide: ... Do they really want to enlarge?" Kurtulmus said.

(Additional reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara, Elizabeth Miles and Julia Fioretti in Brussels; Editing by Dominic Evans and Gareth Jones)

HAMBURG Leaders from the world's top economies will try to bridge deep differences with U.S. President Donald Trump on climate change and trade on Friday as a Group of 20 summit gets underway in Germany amid the threat of violent protests.

WARSAW U.S. President Donald Trump vowed on Thursday to confront North Korea "very strongly" following its latest missile test and urged nations to show Pyongyang there would be consequences for its weapons program.

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EU parliament calls for Turkey accession talks to be suspended - Reuters

EUROPE - Adding sauted potatoes to my rice bowl while loudly proclaiming my love for the root veg probably puts me a couple steps above the average consumer in my appreciation for potatoes, at least in my own estimate. However, an ad launch put forth by the European Union is looking to challenge that notion with its Love Potatoes campaign.

Spanning in-print ads, videos, and the digital reach of social media, consumers are dared to become enamored with potatoes in a more unconventional way than most industry campaigns. Confident spuds are depicted in a variety of situations that may equally conflict and entertain the senses.

These ads are a fun way to get younger consumers to see potatoes as a healthy source of fibre and potassium, as well as being naturally fat-free and easy to cook, Rob Clayton, U.K.s Agriculture and Horticulture Development (AHDB) Board Potato Strategy Director, said according to The Sun.

Though the campaign touches on everything from yoga to holidays, the main theme is that potatoes are fat-free and easy, and thus highly desirableno matter a consumer's preference. Suave spuds accompanied by suggestive text like you just got lucky is putting potatoes in a more controversial light than the stalwart selection is used to, but boosting potatoe sales by 2.9 percent, according to the Potato Council.

Equally funded by an EU grant and the Potato Council, which is overseen by the AHDB, the EU spent 1.8 million (or over $2 million USD) on the campaign. In addition to its eye-brow raising graphics, the EU is hosting recipes from celebrity cooks on the campaigns website.

Though some, in my opinion incorrectly, have referred to the campaign as a waste of time, salesand spudsdon't lie. Will more fruits and veg find themselves tempting this strange and alluring spotlight soon?

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European Union Launches New $2 Million "Love Potatoes" Ad Campaign - And Now U Know