Badenoch hails Asia-Pacific trade deal and dismisses claims it will only boost economy by 0.08% – UK politics live

Business and trade secretary says claims deal will deliver limited economic boost are based on old data

Good morning. The globalist, economic case for Brexit (there were other arguments too, but this is the one that swayed Rishi Sunak) was based on the idea that the importance of the EU in global trade was declining over time and that the UK would benefit by hitching its wagon to other economies, particularly in the developing world. For a long time the free-trade Brexiters were investing all their hopes in a deal with the US. That is now off the table, but perhaps the next biggest prize in their eyes was joining the Asia-Pacific CPTPP trade bloc, and this morning that has landed.

Kemi Badenoch, the business and trade secretary, tweeted about it in the early hours of the morning.