A Scottish Conservative MSP was left floundering on BBC Newsnight last night as the live audience revealed what they really thought about the state of the country right now after Brexit.

After holding off some formidable competition, Michelle Mone has claimed the coveted title of The New European’s Liar of the Year for 2023.

The past 12 months have been littered with grandiose claims about the benefits of Brexit and the ability of the UK to demand what it wants from the EU. But the sad and inescapable conclusion is that none of those benefits exist and that the UK has been forced into a number of embarrassing retreats and compromises.

he OBR pours cold water on hopes for a big boost from the Pacific trade deal. / Have you ever wondered how the UK, based firmly in the north Atlantic, managed to join the free trade area known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)? After all, as the name suggests, it is for countries around the Pacific.

The Independent revealed earlier this year government’s predicted 0.08% boost risked being an overestimate. / Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch was mocked for a prediction the deal with Asia-Pacific countries would grow the economy by 0.08%.

The ability for Parliament to shape and scrutinise trade deals is weaker now than when the UK was a member of the European Union, former Brexit negotiator Lord Frost has said.

Top trade experts say conditions for hidden benefits claimed by Kemi Badenoch are ‘highly unlikely’.

Academics say any gains will depend on the possible future expansion of the CTPPP, which as things stand looks both unlikely and undesirable.

Malaysia stands to gain from free palm oil exports but few other benefits seen. / "The impact appears mainly cosmetic, for the U.K. to show it made a trade deal after Brexit." / "No one in Asia is taking the pact very seriously."

Tokyo is the biggest winner of the UK’s accession to the CPTPP.

The UK’s approach to trade since it left the European Union lacks substantial objectives beyond signing as many free trade agreements (FTAs) as possible, and has now hit a dead end, according to new research from The Economy 2030 Inquiry.

The U.K.'s anticipated accession to an encompassing trans-Pacific economic agreement in July will provide an "imperceptibly small" boost economically and will not compensate for its exit from the European Union, said Bill Emmott, former editor-in-chief of The Economist, in a recent interview with Nikkei.

A CERTAIN dreary and dismal familiarity has developed around the Tories’ desperate efforts to secure trade deals with countries outwith the European Union, having decided to turn their back on the UK’s biggest export market.

The UK egg industry has reacted with disbelief that import tariffs on eggs and egg products are to be phased out following the government announcement that the UK is set to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Forecasts suggest the UK will be 15 years late in hitting £1 trillion annual export target set by David Cameron before the Brexit referendum.

The impact of Brexit on people’s earnings could be ‘substantial’, say experts. / Millions of workers in Britain will be about £1,300 worse off a year due to Brexit, leading experts have said.

Rachel Donald looks at how the Trade Minister’s justification for a zero-tariff trade deal with Malaysia only accelerates global deforestation.

Hidden in the small print of a technical document published by the Department for International Trade is an admission that officials could have juiced up the figures.

James O’Brien asked Kemi Badenoch if "she's seen a map", as he argued that the trans-Pacific alliance is a weak alternative to the EU.

Brexit is to blame for the Dover travel misery blighting Britons’ Easter holiday trips to the Continent, a senior Tory MP said on Monday.

On fifth anniversary of referendum, nation still deeply divided by decision to leave EU.

Confrontation between London and Ottawa at talks led to other countries ‘basically throwing their hands in the air.’

UK preparing to lift tariffs on palm oil from Malaysia as price for joining CPTPP trade agreement. / Britain is preparing to sign off on a post-Brexit trade deal that campaigners say will encourage further destruction of nature, threaten the habitat of orangutans in Malaysia and make a mockery of the government’s claims of being committed to tackling deforestation abroad.

However, disenchantment with Brexit has been one of the most notable trends of 2022 with a feeling that it has not lived up to the promises made at the time of the referendum. / Two thirds or 65% of British people think Brexit has gone badly compared to just 21% who think it has gone well according to an Opinium survey in early December.

New Brexit restrictions have had a ‘disastrous’ impact on the ability of UK breeding companies to sell their stock abroad, the Farming Minister was told at the Young NPA National event in London last week.