[1andrew1]

Surely not!

Johnson overselling benefits of post-Brexit trade deals, say MPs

Critical report points to shortcomings and large concessions in accord with Australia

Boris Johnson’s much-lauded trade deal with Australia will cut the price of an imported bottle of a wine only by “a couple of pence”, according to a critical report by MPs, which urged the prime minister not to oversell the benefits of such agreements.

The international trade select committee said on Wednesday that while tariff reductions on processed food and drink could benefit consumers, they were unlikely to make a “noticeable difference” at supermarket checkouts.

Meanwhile, the deal would allow tariff-free food from Australia to be sold into Britain without meeting core UK food production standards related, for example, to pesticide use.

Johnson hailed the agreement with Canberra in June 2021 as the UK’s first big post-Brexit trade deal, with greater freedoms for Britons to work and travel in Australia and various tariffs cut on a range of goods.

But the trade committee called for a full assessment of winners and losers across all economic sectors and nations of the UK from trade deals, highlighting the concerns of British farmers about a lack of protections in some agreements.

https://www.ft.com/content/86a76122-...d-003e39ba50b4