27 nations queue up to trade with us
BRITAIN’S Brexit boom has hit new heights with 27 countries indicating that they want to strike trade deals.
Experts said that nations from around the globe – with a combined GDP of more than £40trillion, or more than two thirds of the global economy – want to take advantage of a UK free from restrictive EU rules.
Only two of the world’s top 10 economies, Italy and France, have yet to express an interest in doing a trade deal with Britain.
The countries which officials or prominent business and political figures have so far expressed an interest in a trade deal with the UK are Australia, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Germany, Ghana, Iceland, India, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Switzerland, the United States, Uruguay and Venezuela.
The positive news comes despite President Obama’s comment on a visit to Britain during the referendum campaign that the UK would “be at the back of the queue” for a trade deal. Presidential hopeful Donald Trump has already dismissed Mr Obama’s statement which many believe he was asked to make as a special favour to former Prime Minister David Cameron, who was leading the Remain campaign.
It comes as figures released by eurostat, the EU’s data monitoring body, showed that growth in the 19 eurozone nations rose by just 0.3 per cent in the last quarter – half the rate of the UK.
Trade Secretary Liam Fox has already been on a US tour to start work on new deals.
Meanwhile, the UK is enjoying a “Brexit boom” in tourism because of the fall in the pound and thousands of foreign visitors bringing in billions of pounds.
Hotels, airline companies and visitor attractions like the London Eye have all reported a dramatic increase in bookings in July.
British “staycation” people have also been put off travelling abroad by the increased cost of holidays in Europe, massive delays at Dover and spate of terrorist attacks on the continent.
Online accommodation service Airbnb has said it had seen a 24 per cent rise in London visits in the month after the referendum result compared with the month before.