It struck me as odd that Theresa May should visit Japan with the hope of winning a trade deal shortly after the final details of the Japan-EU free trade deal were being sorted. But the Brexit camp now wants to apply a cloned version of this deal to the UK and Japan. So much for all the wonderful, improved trade deals that Brexit would give us. Vince Cable's suggestion that International Trade Secretary Liam Fox should be confined to an office with a photocopier is very apt. So I've included below the whole of the Lib Dem news release about Vince's comments.
"Leave Fox in a room with a photocopier" - Cable
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Following reports that ministers are now seeking a "cut and paste Brexit", whereby Britain would simply have the same trade deals with other countries as we currently enjoy from inside the EU, Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable has said that the government's Brexit strategy now "defies all logic".
Vince Cable said:
"Brexiteers promised a new dawn of improved trade deals across the world. But rather than jet-setting round the globe, Liam Fox might as well be left in a room with a photocopier.
"The government's Brexit strategy now defies all logic. It is not even asking Japan for a bespoke trade deal. India has already told us they won't give us one. The government should not be surprised if China says the same.
"Far from bagging lots of new trade deals, the government is simply trying to cut and paste our existing arrangements. Its Brexit strategy has just reached new levels of absurdity.
"The Institute for Government estimates that the civil service bill for negotiating Brexit is £65m a year. But if ministers are simply trying to cling on to what we have already, it raises the question, why leave the European Union?"
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