Barry Gardiner rounds on ‘incompetent’ Liam Fox over failure to secure post-Brexit trade deals
2 min read
Barry Gardiner has branded Liam Fox “incompetent” over his failure to secure a raft of post-Brexit trade deals.
The International Trade Secretary had previously promised that his department would have 40 free trade agreements ready to sign “one minute after midnight” on the day the UK leaves the EU.
But a leaked document from his department, obtained by The Sun, showed that just six trade deals were close to completion, eight were “off-track” and another 19 were “significantly off-track”, just weeks ahead of the set 29 March exit date.
Demanding answers in an urgent question today, the Shadow Trade Secretary blasted Mr Fox for “grandstanding” on his ability to secure new deals, rather than focussing on securing continuity on deals already agreed via the UK's membership of the EU.
Mr Gardiner said: “Many in the business community feel that the Secretary of State has diverted too much of his department’s resources on entirely new free trade agreements, and so keen has he been to grandstand with the new that he has ignored the fundamental grinding work of securing what we already have.”
Only four deals have been fully completed - with Switzerland, Chile, the Faroe Islands and an Eastern and Southern African block.
But a deal with major trade partner Japan, as well as agreements with Algeria, Turkey and Moldova would not be deliverable on time, according to the internal analysis.
Mr Gardiner warned that some vessels which have already left the UK for overseas markets would be arriving in foreign ports after the UK’s exit date, with no idea of the tariff barriers they may face.
He added: “Increasingly, the Department for International Trade looks like it has inadequate resources, focussed on the wrong priorities, set by incompetent ministers.”
But Mr Fox hit back, saying he had dedicated "maximal resource" to ensuring existing trade deals were ready to rollover after the UK's exit from the EU by shifting staff away from working on new negotiations.
The Tory heavyweight also accused Labour of risking future trade prospects by refusing to back the Prime Minister's Brexit deal.
"If we want to ensure all our agreements rollover, then the best way to do so is to reach a deal with the European Union so they will apply one minute after midnight.
"I voted for that continuity? Did the honourable gentleman? Did his party?"
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
