Philip Hammond - Tariff free trade deals would only contribute a tiny amount to our GDP... so we must quash "this myth that third country trade deals will solve all our problems"

New Zealand television is completely mystified by the amazing #Brexit trade deal Liz Truss keeps boasting about. They can’t understand why she would want to make British farmers poorer and theirs richer. Even the winning side can’t fathom it.

This is how New Zealand TV is reporting the Brexit trade deal with the UK / They visibly can't believe their luck that British farming has been made the "sacrificial lamb" for a deal hugely beneficial to NZ with "negligeable benefits for UK farmers who get nothing in return"

New poll shows 79% think trade deals with Australia and New Zealand are bad. / Just over half (52%) of farmers said Britain should join the EU and 70% of thought we should at least rejoin the single European market, rising to 85% in the case of those working in the ancillary industries.

Claim that UK farming at risk if ‘soft’ approach pursued with countries with ‘less qualms’ about quality.

THE UK Government’s trade minister admitted she doesn’t know the impact of the New Zealand deal on GDP compared to the cost of Brexit during questioning from MPs.

Talk at this week’s NFU conference will be alive with financial, labour and competition concerns.

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 Chancellor and Prime Minister need a plan to counter figures showing lower growth after the hit to EU trade.

A couple of points are worth observing already. Nearly six years on from the Leave vote, the supposed opportunities of Brexit remain entirely conspicuous by their absence. And ramping up the rhetoric by claiming “immense opportunity” does not change this reality.

Shadow International Trade Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds has written a letter to the government urging ministers raising his concerns over the 'mess' of a trade deal.

Another Brexit advertising campaign. They've replaced sporting events as signs of the changing seasons. Instead of Wimbledon or the Olympics, we get Michael Gove talking gibberish on television and further millions poured into preparedness exercises for an outcome with no tangible benefits.

Liz Truss had described the deal with Japan as a "landmark moment for Britain" that would boost trade by billions of pounds.

As part of efforts to maintain the Good Friday Agreement and make sure there is no border in the sea or on the island of Ireland, the Windsor Framework was devised. One aspect of this will see “Not for EU” labelling required on British food products sold throughout the UK.

In reality, Brexit has hobbled the UK economy, which remains the only member of the G7 — the group of advanced economies that also includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — with an economy smaller than it was before the pandemic.

Continuing the letter to Jacob Rees-Mogg, reminding him – he seems to need reminding – of the many new opportunities created by Brexit.

The potential threats of Brexit to Scottish farmers continue to 'vastly outweigh' the potential opportunities, NFU Scotland has warned one year on from UK withdrawal.

Deal could lower welfare of the population and shrink GDP.

The UK’s much-vaunted post-Brexit trade deals will only increase the country’s GDP by a minuscule amount over the next 15 years, a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) reveals today.

The ruling Conservatives’ efforts to big up their paltry free trade deals with Australia and New Zealand took something of a comic turn this week, with the revelation that the UK Government was shipping signed copies of The Beano to the two countries.

The ability to sign free trade deals independently was touted as one of the main positives with Brexit, however agreements with Australia and New Zealand have been predicted to have limited economic impact.

Farmers have warned of "huge downsides" to Boris Johnson's new trade deal with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Dairy UK, the processor-led organization representing farmer-owned co-ops and private dairy companies, has expressed concern over the UK government’s trade deal with New Zealand.

There's little talk of reversing the decision, but evidence of Brexit-induced harm is piling up.

Tory frontunner will be ‘empty chaired’ by NFU – as enviornment secretary reveals ‘tensions’ with Truss.

Farm incomes could fall by more than a half because of post Brexit trade deals, according to a new report. / The Scottish Government have published figures revealing the impact of Free Trade Agreements the UK Government have signed with countries like Australia and New Zealand in the agricultural sector.

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. 

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%.

George Eustice pulls no punches as he lays into the former prime minister in parliament, lambasting Ms Truss's achievements as international trade secretary.

‘‘It raises in to question whether we should be signing a free trade agreement with a country that has demonstrated it will not necessarily honour an international agreement it has signed.’’

Worried farmers hit out at the government, telling NationalWorld it “has no interest in protecting the agricultural industry at all”.

CPTPP member countries have a combined population of 500 million and GDP of £9 trillion. For reference, although the EU is a similar size, with a GDP of £11 trillion, the value of our total trade to the EU is much higher, at £557 billion.

A year on from leaving the EU, it’s time for an annual report on how Brexit has worked out for Wales.

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 UK Government failed to heed warnings over the damage Brexit would do to Scotland’s food and farming sectors, despite “clearly being aware of the consequences”, a Scottish minister has said.

The NFU president has been dismayed by the government’s post-Brexit deals, but has vowed to fight on for British producers

New Zealand is "very frustrated" with the pace of post-Brexit trade talks with the UK, the country's deputy prime minister has said.

Lord Debden says agreement ‘completely at odds with everything the government has promised’.

Minette Batters decries trade deal with Australia and New Zealand. / The president of the National Farmers’ Union has accused the government of using British food producers as a “pawn” in post-Brexit trade deals.

NFU President Minette Batters said the UK-New Zealand deal, as with the one signed early this year with Australia, has little benefit for British farmers and that a coherent approach is needed to bolster UK farming’s productivity.

'The Brexiters have no more idea in private than they do in public about what they are doing. Predictions based upon their concealed intent project on to them a competence they simply don’t possess.'

Almost one in five (18%) have said they are less likely to buy products labelled “Not for EU” which will be a requirement on all British meat and dairy produce from October 2024.

British Chambers of Commerce urges government to ‘cut red tape on UK-EU goods movements’.

Plaid Cymru has accused the UK Government of securing “tiny trade deals” as a result of a ‘frenzied dash for glossy headlines’ and is calling for an economic assessment on the impact of post-Brexit trade deals on the Welsh economy.

A post-Brexit deal between the UK and New Zealand will be “formally laid in Parliament” today despite concerns over its impact on UK producers.

The UK's former permanent representative to the EU suggests that post-Brexit trade deals with New Zealand and Australia contribute little to the country's finances.

The first post-Brexit trade deals came into effect at midnight yesterday sparking fresh criticism of the impact they will have on UK businesses and standards. / Trade experts and representatives of the farming industry warned about the impact that the damaging deals with Australia and New Zealand would have on British businesses while delivering very few benefits.

Labour shortages caused by Brexit and accentuated by the COVID pandemic have badly affected businesses across the food and farming sector and could cause ‘permanent’ damage, UK lawmakers stated in a report published on Wednesday (6 April).

Trade secretary had dismissed predictions by Office for Budget Responsibility. / Rishi Sunak has refused to accept Brexit has damaged the UK's trade with other countries – despite the government's own figures showing a sharp drop.

The commercial departments of Brexit-supporting newspapers know the damage being caused to the UK economy, and newspaper advertising revenues, by Brexit. Their editorial colleagues continue to support it anyway.

Seven years since the referendum, how have the “promises” made by the most prominent Brexiteers panned out? Here’s a rundown of the 10 most spectacular untruths.

In this film, senior FT writers and British businesspeople examine how Brexit hit the UK economy, the political conspiracy of silence, and why there has not yet been a convincing case for a 'Brexit dividend'.

Across the world, there is incomprehension at what we have done to ourselves.

Boris Johnson’s Trumpian remarks on the “deep state” will almost certainly have a destructive effect on British democracy.

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.

A former Tory minister has admitted a Brexit deal he backed at the time is "not actually a very good deal" and people are fuming.

U.K. investment of more than 1 billion pounds ($1.4 billion) to smooth the passage of goods over its new post-Brexit border failed to prevent a slump in trade with the European Union.

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.

Negotiations between the UK and Canada on a post-Brexit trade deal have broken down after nearly two years, following a row over beef and cheese. / Canada has been pushing for the UK to relax a ban on hormone-treated beef, which its producers say in effect shuts them out of the British market.

Government modelling suggests deal could damage some UK industries like farming and food processing. / But the government's own estimates for the deal suggest it will have a negligible impact of 0.02 per cent to 0.03 per cent of GDP by 2033.

‘Groundbreaking’ agreement criticised by UK farmers is part of 10-year plan to pivot to Indo-Pacific

New Zealand has protested at the lack of progress in talks over a post-Brexit trade deal, insisting the UK is not “match-fit” for negotiations.

Egg shortages ‘just the start’, says NFU – warning tomatoes, cucumbers and pears could become scarce.

The UK and New Zealand are close to a trade agreement but experts have dismissed it as making little difference to British consumers.

The UK's trade deal with New Zealand has been heavily criticised by Stormont's agriculture minister.

All trade deals combined worth less than 50p per person a year, analysis of government figures shows.

Data obtained by POLITICO shows economic toll on farmers known before key post-Brexit trade talks began.

Brexit has "permanently damaged" the UK economy, former Bank of England policymaker Michael Saunders warned as London was deposed as Europe's biggest stock market.

Meanwhile former Cabinet minister George Eustice questioned the negotiating strategy that led to the Australia and New Zealand trade deals.

"This is now the third Asia-Pacific agreement in a row where more than 80 per cent of the projected growth in trade has gone to exporters in those other countries," she said.

FUW President Glyn Roberts has described Brexit as a “mess” and says the exit from the EU is one of the factors responsible for the hardships now being faced by farmers across Wales.

Two handpicked consignments of UK goods have been sent to Australia and New Zealand to mark new post-Brexit agreements.

Ellie Newis reviews two of the flagship free trade agreements that were supposed to reignite the UK economy.

Back in those pre-war, pre-Covid and pre-permacrisis halcyon days of early 2020, the world was the UK food sector’s oyster in terms of post-Brexit trading opportunities.