SEZ (carve-out) 2024 – 5 x 172 x 103cm, canvas, plaster, photographs
The UK Govt is seceding entire regions of the UK to private investors that in the form of 74 Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and 12 Freeports and it’s happening fast. All over the world zone fever is erupting, Brexit Britain is no exception. 12 of the Special Economic Zones ranging from 38 to 75km in diameter have been earmarked for all 12 of the surrounding areas around Sunak and Starmer’s Freeports.
There zones of exception to the host country’s laws and regulations are currently being set up in England, Scotland and Wales, and Starmer’s changed Labour Party are planning even more. The normal rules don’t apply anymore, SEZs and Freeports are aggressively carving out entire regions of UK territory, and installing corporate governance and corporate sovereignty, exactly what Mogg hinted at when he spoke of ‘restructuring sovereignty’ after Brexit.
Cheap labour means return of sweatshops and zero workers rights, massive profits for companies Unions know that carve-outs translate as ‘islands beyond the traditional roles of industrial relations and protections’, in other words, a race to the bottom to extract maximum profit while below minimum wage suffices for a pliant workforce desperate to feed families.