Lord David Cameron said that he is “impressed” with the progress of British trade following Brexit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regarding free trade agreements, the recently appointed Foreign Secretary stated that “a lot of very good work” has been done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former prime minister also stated that he was “delighted” that the UK entered the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Indo-Pacific trade bloc. The prime minister resigned in 2016 following the UK’s defeat in the Brexit referendum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his first lengthy parliamentary grilling since his sensational political comeback, he told the Lords European Affairs Committee yesterday [THURS]: “If you leave the EU the key thing is to take advantage of the new situation you’re in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We’re not in the customs union, we’re not in the single market, we’re making this partnership work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“As part of that arrangement we’re free to make these trade arrangements with the rest of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’m delighted that we’re doing CPTPP. We’ll be one of the largest players in this new emerging bloc. We can help shape, develop and grow it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“While currently it’s a small percentage of our trade, these are some of the fastest growing economies in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I think we can do that consistent with our obligations under the withdrawal agreement and we can make that work and that’s what we should be doing.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The former leader of the Remain campaign insisted there is “no point leaving and not taking advantage of leaving”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“And that’s what we’re doing with things like that,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Obviously there’s a sort of capacity issue about how many trade deals we can do, how quickly. But again I’ve been impressed that actually there’s a lot of very good work that’s been done and we need to keep that up.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lord Cameron said the “heat and anger” has come out of the UK’s relationship with the EU and that they can be “friends, neighbours and partners”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said: “It’s been interesting coming back to see how it’s working and how problems are being fixed and opportunities are being taken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I think a lot of the heat and anger has come out of the relationship. It’s now much more functional and I think it’s functioning well.”<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lord David Cameron said that he is “impressed” with the progress of British trade following Brexit. Regarding free trade agreements, the recently appointed Foreign Secretary stated that “a lot of … <\/p>\n