Brexiteer hails ‘huge triumph’ as Britain closes in on £9tn CPTPP trade pact

Britain joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) would be a “massive boost” and “huge triumph”, a Brexiteer has said. It is understood the UK’s accession to the £9trillion gross domestic product (GDP) Indo-Pacific free trade bloc could be announced imminently.

Conservative MP David Jones, who is deputy chairman of the European Research Group of Tory Eurosceptics, hailed the Brexit win and, in a swipe at the EU, said it would not involve Britain giving up its sovereignty.

Mr Jones told the Express: “The CPTPP is an association of some of the most dynamic economies in the fastest-growing part of the world.

“Unlike the EU, it doesn’t require its members to surrender their sovereignty to unelected bureaucrats.

“Joining it will be a massive boost to the UK and a huge triumph for the Government.”

Rishi Sunak today said “fantastic progress” has been made in talks on joining the 11-country bloc.

The Prime Minister said it was “a great benefit of Brexit” for the UK to be able to sign its own trade deals.

Speaking during a visit to the UK Atomic Energy Authority in Oxfordshire on Thursday, Mr Sunak said: “We’ve made fantastic progress in the negotiations about CPTPP but we’re not there yet.

“But taking a step back, this is a great benefit of Brexit, our ability to go and sign exciting trade deals around the world.

“If we are able to accede to the CPTPP trade deal, that will be an exciting moment for the UK, great opportunity for all our businesses to export to a massive and fast-growing market and, again, just demonstrates the Government getting on with things that are going to make life better, create jobs across the country and deliver the benefits of Brexit.”

Trade ministers from the bloc are expected to meet later today to give the green light to the UK’s membership, with an announcement to follow tomorrow.

The UK would become the first new country – and first European nation – to be welcomed to the pact since its formation in 2018.

Britain joins Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

Ministers say joining CPTPP could give UK businesses tariff-free access on more than 99 percent of goods that enter a market of around 500 million customers.

The UK first applied to join the bloc in early 2021 and accession is a major part of its wider post-Brexit foreign policy shift toward the Indo-Pacific.

A report by the Centre for Policy Studies last year said joining the CPTPP could boost Britain’s GDP by up to £20billion per year.

Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch last month visited Mexico to hold talks with counterparts about the UK’s accession to the CPTPP.

At the time, the Department for Business and Trade said Britain was “nearing the final stages” of talks to join the trading bloc.

Ms Badenoch said: “We will add £2trillion to the bloc’s GDP when we join, taking it up to 15 percent of the world’s GDP, and will add a strong voice promoting free trade and defending against protectionism on the global stage.”