What the papers say: A Brexit trade deal is in everyone's interests

‘It is vital for our future prosperity’, says the Sun, ‘that we cut a trade deal with Brussels’. David Davis was correct then, the paper argues, to ‘call on the EU to start trade talks running “parallel” with our exit talks’. ‘After all, how can we settle our bill until we know what we’ll get in return,’ the paper asks. The Sun goes on to point out that, no matter how much it might wind up ‘EU bosses’, the EU sells us £96bn more than we sell them’. This makes one thing clear: ‘a free trade deal is in their interests too’. ‘EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has been throwing his weight around’, the paper says. But while you might not know it from his confident approach, this strategy presents a problem for him: ‘he needs our settlement cash’. This gives the UK a ‘decent hand’ to play. All sides would benefit – including the EU – if Michel Barnier finally ‘cottoned on to this’, the paper concludes.