Long distance trade good, short distance bad

Or so it would seem. Today Theresa May is in Cape Town, announcing her intention to be G7’s biggest investor in Africa by 2022. All well and good one might say. Small point. When she says Africa, she means South Africa mainly, which is why she chose to make the announcement there. South Africa is the most prosperous country in Africa. It makes sense. But remember, our current trade with the whole of Africa is only 17.5 billion pounds pa, while our trade with the EU is more like 250 billion. So it’s going to have to undergo something of a transformation before it even comes close to what we will have lost to the EU when we leave it behind. And let’s not forget other players, just as keen as us and with even more clout; I speak of course of the USA and China, who want a large wedge of the African pie for themselves.

I’m probably going to be accused of naivety at any moment, but something else occurs to me:  Cape Town is 8000 miles from Britain. France and the rest of the EU only a few hundred miles. Does no one other than me see how crazy it is to abandon nearby markets while seeking others on the other side of the world? We know air travel is contributing significantly to the CO2 emission/global warming thing. Imagine how much worse that’s going to get when we start trading with all these far-flung nations? And all this to wrest back our ‘sovereignty’, whatever that is? OK, I’ll tell you what that is: a con.

I spent a few days in Richmond, Surrey last week, and of the several places we visited, Ham House, Syon House and Kew Gardens, it was hard to avoid noticing that they all lie directly under the main flight path to Heathrow airport. Every 45 seconds a jet plane passes overhead, 18 hours a day, 7 days a week. Are all these journeys necessary?

Look, I know I’m part of the problem too. I’ve travelled by jet 3 times this year, albeit all within Europe, so I am not setting myself as some sort of ecological saint. But I do worry that many, many plane journeys aren’t really necessary. Business people going to meetings - how about Skype? Holiday makers - how about a destination closer to home?

Mine is a voice in the wilderness on this subject, as that never ending queue of planes overflying West London testifies. But at some stage this issue is going to have to be addressed. Anyone noticed the world’s weather recently?