The EU and Japan's Economic Partnership Agreement entered into force on 1 February 2019.

'It is hard to predict how full Brexit would play out, because this scale of multiple simultaneous renegotiations of global trade agreements is unprecedented – and no country has ever left the EU. It certainly can’t be assumed that Britain is bound to get quick and good deals because it is a large economy.'

Is it a vindication of the economic merits of Brexit and a symbol of the clout of ‘global Britain’? The short answer is no.