Liam Fox

In a somewhat surreal twist, UK trade minister Liam Fox has announced a consultation on whether the UK should seek to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) when it leaves the EU next March. Quite rightly, many think this move is ridiculous as we are nowhere near the Pacific.

He thinks he’s done it. The relief on Liam Fox’s face after his government survived a series of votes on his beloved Trade Bill relatively unscathed was clear.

If this really was all over he would have reasons to be happy. After all, as things stand the Trade Bill gives him truly intoxicating amounts of power.

Eighty-two per cent of Brits would rather not have a trade deal with the US than sacrifice decent food standards. Only 8% would put a trade deal first. So says a new opinion poll conducted by the Institute for Public Policy Research.

When Liam Fox introduced his Trade Bill last Autumn, he must have hoped it would clear parliament in a couple of months, and by now he would be busy mapping out the shape of Britain’s post-Brexit relationship with the world. 

Liam Fox’s Trade Bill is nearing the end of its time in the House of Commons, and so far our efforts to amend it have been frustrated. But there's a long way to go.

Liam Fox must be a very fast reader. Superhuman in fact. Because just hours after the ‘consultation’ on the trade white paper closed, the government proposed a new Trade Bill.

While MPs have been racing against the clock to amend the ‘Great Repeal Bill’ this week, another bill has been quietly introduced into parliament, with serious implications for everyone in the UK as well as millions more people round the world.