Rishi Sunak refuses to accept Brexit has damaged trade

Jump to contentSign up to our newslettersSubscribeNewsSportsVoicesCultureLifestyleTravelPremiumRishi Sunak has refused to accept Brexit has damaged the UK’s trade with other countries – despite the government’s own figures showing a sharp drop.The prime minister was pressed on the issue in the House of Commons on Wednesday after one of Mr Sunak’s Cabinet ministers rejected evidence from the government’s economic watchdog.Kemi Badenoch, the trade secretary, said earlier this month that the government did not believe the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecasts on the matter and took different view.The minister’s comments were raised Plaid Cymru Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts at prime minister’s questions.”The prime minister is struggling to rebuild the Tories’ ruined economic credibility after his predecessor scored the OBR,” she said. “But in a Bloomberg interview just last week his trade secretary disputed economic forecasts that trade would be 15 per cent lower because of Brexit.”Britain’s economic prospects are worsened by being outside the world’s largest trading bloc: that is a fact. So who does he agree with? The OBR or his Tory minister.”Mr Sunak responded by saying he believed Brexit would actually grow UK trade outside the bloc. “One of the great opportunities of Brexit is our ability to trade more with countries around the world – and actually I know the honourable lady will actually want to speak to many of the Welsh farmers who are enjoying selling their lamb to the new markets that have opened up for them. That’s what we’ll get on and deliver,” he replied.Hard figures produced by the EU statistics agency Eurostat show UK exports down to the bloc by 14 per cent in 2021.A migrant attempting to communicate with journalists is pinned against a fence by members of staff, before being taken out of view, at the Manston immigration short-term holding facility, located at the former Defence Fire Training and Development Centre in Thanet, KentPAHandout photo issued by Just Stop Oil of a protester who has climbed a gantry on the M25 between junctions six and seven in Surrey, leading to the closure of the motorwayPAA grey seal with its pup, at the Donna Nook National Nature Reserve in north Lincolnshire, where they come every year in late October, November and December to give birth to their pups near the sand dunes, the wildlife spectacle attracts visitors from across the UKPADemonstrators with placards calling for a General Election march near the Houses of ParliamentAFP via Getty ImagesA peacock 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the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay’s Galleria in central LondonPAA meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichmentPAKing Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new governmentPARishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative PartyReutersThe Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market’s annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemicPASculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the ‘Planet A’ Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire townPABritain’s Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central 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Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3.Manchester City FC/GettyProtesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don’t Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the dayAFP/GettyBritish Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her government’s mini-budgetGettyThe Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i’r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 yearsPACriminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the GovernmentPADavid White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III ‘CIIIR’, after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central LondonAFP/GettyA gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud – Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 – on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition – Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in LondonPALabour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthemPAHandout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George’s Chapel, Windsor CastlePA A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in LondonEPAWoody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north LondonPAA flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in KentPAFlowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or compostedPAThe ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St George’s ChapelAFP/GettyMeanwhile the UK’s Office for Budget responsibility says the latest data shows its estimate of a 15 per cent reduction in trade “as a result of Brexit” appears to be broadly correct.The watchdog says the scale of increases in trade outside the EU are nowhere near enough to compensate for the hit the UK has taken. Despite Mr Sunak’s claims about Welsh lamb, the National Farmers Union has expressed concern about trade deals with by the government since Brexit, which they warn will flood the UK with imports produced to lower welfare standards.In fact, the government’s own estimate of its Brexit trade deal with New Zealand expects it to hurt British farmers. Ms Badenoch’s Department for International Trade describes says the deal will cause a £150 million contraction to the sector because of a ‘”reallocation of resources within the economy”.Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalismBy registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalistsAlready have an account? sign inRegistration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalismBy registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalistsAlready have an account? sign inThe prime minister was asked about comments by his trade secretary ReutersPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in