A new Pacific partnership hailed by Boris Johnson as a key to post-Brexit prosperity has been branded “a drop in the ocean” after official figures showed the government expects it to increase GDP by just 0.08 per cent – less than one-fortieth of the expected economic hit from leaving the European Union.
And Labour warned that the benefit could slump to just 0.017 per cent (£400m) if Malaysia continues to hold out against ratification of the deal, according to figures from the Department for International Trade.
The forecast £1.7bn annual increase in UK exports to countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Australia from membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) contrasts with the £2bn hit in sales of food and drink products alone to the EU in the first three months of this year.
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