Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch on Friday urged people to stop talking about the vote for Brexit as she defended a new Indo-Pacific trade deal forecast to boost the UK economy by less than one per cent.
Britain’s acceptance into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a bloc of 11 countries including Australia, Canada and Japan, is being hailed by ministers as one of the UK’s biggest post-Brexit wins. But hours after signing the deal, Ms Badenoch had to fend off questions over how membership would soften the blow of leaving the EU, set to deliver a four per cent hit to the UK’s GDP.
