Start seeking trade deals now, says IEA

BRITAIN should put the deadlocked Brexit negotiations on the back burner and open trade talks with the rest of the world, according to a radical plan supported by Boris Johnson and David Davis, the former Cabinet ministers.

A 140-page document from the Institute of Economic Affairs recommends seeking global trade deals now, to force the EU to give Britain a better deal after leaving the EU next March. Talking now could accelerate the signing of trade deals after Brexit, which could add as much as 7 per cent to Britain’s gross domestic product by the middle of the 2030s.

The IEA has also obtained legal advice that says Britain has the right to negotiate – but not implement – new deals before leaving the EU.

It also means that British politicians will be able to focus on deals with other countries rather than trying to solve the border issue in Northern Ireland.

It comes after Dominic Raab, the Brexit Secretary, told the BBC’S Andrew Marr Show he was “always listening to new proposals and new ideas”.

The report will be unveiled this morning by Shanker Singham, the director of international trade and competition at the IEA, and former trade adviser to the US government.

A source said: “The US wants to do a deal. Why not offer a text of a UK-US Free Trade Agreement now?”