Cross party commission responds to UK New Zealand trade deal
Responding to the news that the UK has agreed a trade deal with New Zealand in principle, Hilary Benn MP, Chair of the cross-party, cross industry UK Trade and Business Commission, said:
“This is good news, although we must recognise that New Zealand has a much smaller population than the UK and therefore export opportunities from a deal will, while welcome, be small in terms of our overall trade.
It does, however, highlight the need for the Government to improve their flawed deal with the EU to support struggling British businesses which are having to cope with red tape, cost and bureaucracy in trying to trade with Europe.”
Notes to editors
Background: The UK Trade and Business Commission was launched in April to provide independent scrutiny of the UK’s trade deals with Europe and the rest of the world. It brings together eleven MPs from all nine Westminster parties and all four nations of the UK, along with business leaders and expert economists. The Commission is co-convened by Hilary Benn MP and the Chairman of Virgin Group, Peter Norris, and the secretariat is provided by the cross-party, pro-internationalist group Best for Britain.
The Commission has previously held sessions to gather evidence on: