Kemi Badenoch suggested that people should stop talking about Brexit and focus on what can be done to help the UK economy grow for the future after the government announced a major new trade deal.
The UK has now joined the Indo-Pacific trade bloc formally known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
The move represents the UK’s largest post-Brexit trade pact to date and Ms Badenoch said it is a “deal about the future” as “many other countries” want to join and Britain has “started early”.
Ms Badenoch, the trade and commerce minister, was suggested that joining the bloc won’t be as good for trade as the UK is a member of the EU.
But she hit back, telling Times Radio this morning: “We’ve left the EU so we need to look at what we need to do to help the UK economy grow and not keep talking about a vote from seven years ago.”
The CPTPP agreement will cut tariffs for British exporters to a group of countries that – with Britain’s entry – will have a total gross domestic product (GDP) of £11 trillion.
However, critics have said the impact of the deal will be limited, with official estimates suggesting it will only add £1.8bn a year to the UK economy after 10 years.
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