Australia calls for free trade deal with Britain as soon as possible
AUSTRALIA has called for a free trade deal with Britain as soon as possible in a Brexit boost for Prime Minister Theresa May.
Mrs May has spoken to her Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull, who expressed his desire to open up trading between the two Commonwealth countries as a matter of urgency.
The new PM described the call as very encouraging and insisted it showed leaving the European Union could work for Britain. She tasked newly-appointed International Trade Secretary Liam Fox to begin exploring options but acknowledged that Britain could not sign any deals while it was still an EU member.
Mrs May said: “I have been very clear that this government will make a success of our exit from the European Union.
“One of the ways we will do this is by embracing the opportunities to strike free trade deals with our partners across the globe.
“It is very encouraging that one of our closest international partners is already seeking to establish just such a deal. This shows that we can make Brexit work for Britain, and the new Secretary of State for International Trade will be taking this forward in the weeks and months ahead.
“Britain is an outward-looking and globally minded country, and we will build on this as we forge a new role for ourselves in the world.”
On Friday, Mrs May told Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon she would not trigger Article 50 to leave the EU before getting UK-wide agreement — a potentially difficult objective given that Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the bloc.
But Dr Fox claimed numerous non-EU countries had already asked Britain for a trade deal.
He said that he was “scoping about a dozen free trade deals outside the EU to be ready for when we leave”, amid reports that he was preparing to fly to the US next week.
He told a Sunday newspaper: “We have already had a number of countries saying ‘We would love to do a trade deal with the world’s fifth-biggest economy without having to deal with the other 27 members of the EU’.”