Britain’s acceptance into the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) will be presented by the government as a triumph, a statement that Britain really does, finally, have something substantive to show for Brexit.
It is a deal which could not have been done so long as Britain remained a member of the EU, as the only trade deals we were allowed to enter into were those negotiated by the EU on our behalf. Cynics might counter that there is limited point in joining a trade bloc when you already have bilateral trade deals with seven of its 11 members and have negotiated deals with two others which have yet to begin. In practical terms, Britain’s membership will open up free trade with Malaysia and Brunei but that is about all – which, put that way, sounds a rather modest achievement.
By joining CPTPP, the UK government has created for itself a potential political hot potato
The main advantage may be that it should finally put down the Remainer argument that Brexit was a little Englander project designed to keep out the rest of the world and allow us to live in splendid isolation. Here
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