Tories’ ‘misleading’ £800bn post-Brexit trade deals claim condemned by watchdog

Tories should not have suggested rollover deals were ‘new’, says UK Statistics Authority

The Conservatives have been condemned by the UK’s official statistics watchdog for claiming that £800bn in “new” free trade deals had been secured since Brexit.

The UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) said it was “misleading” for the Tories to have said that the £800bn figure referred to new global trade, since it includes roll-over agreements which continued pre-Brexit trade arrangements.

Drew Hendry, the SNP’s trade spokesperson, wrote UKSA to complain about the Tory graphic, which stated: “We’ve secured new free trade deals with over 70 countries since 2016. That’s over £800bn worth of new free trade.”