The £12 trillion trade deal is another comically exaggerated Brexit ‘benefit’

There’s been much hype and talk of a trans-Pacific partnership bonanza, writes Sean O’Grady. Now, what do they say about something that sounds too good to be true?

Business and trade secretary Kemi Badenoch flew over to New Zealand to sign the CPTPP agreement (PA Wire)

You may have noticed that Global Britain, as we must now call ourselves, has just joined one of the biggest free trading blocs in the world – the trans-Pacific partnership, or Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to give it its full title.

Kemi Badenoch, the business and trade secretary, flew over to sign the treaty at the Partnership’s registry in Auckland, New Zealand (the CPTPP’s rough equivalent of the EU’s HQ in Brussels), and she’s been beaming across all media outlets ever since.

As a dedicated Brexiteer she is understandably pleased to be able to show that: “We are using our status as an independent trading nation to join an exciting, growing, forward-looking trade bloc, which will help grow the UK economy and build on the hundreds of thousands of jobs CPTPP-owned businesses already support up and down the country.”