The terms on which the UK will leave the European Union remain mired in uncertainty, but a minister in the Theresa May government believes that selling naan to India could be an example of “Global Britain” after Brexit.
Companies and banks in the financial district of City have put in place contingency plans to deal with the implications of Brexit, particularly potential lack of tariff-free access to the single market, while European cities have been wooing UK-based companies to move there.
Amid fractious talks in Brussels over the terms of Brexit, Liz Truss, chief secretary to the treasury, travelled to a bakery in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, and extolled the gains she believes will accrue to British companies after exiting the EU.
“Selling naan breads in India from a company based in Dunstable would once have been unthinkable. It’s this type of entrepreneurial, and go-getting, spirit that will help the UK make a success of this once in a lifetime opportunity to reshape Britain,” she said.
“We are in a terrific position to take advantage of the new trading horizons open to us after Brexit,” she added, exuding optimism that is not shared by many in the government, including her senior colleague, chancellor Philip Hammond.
{{/usCountry}}“We are in a terrific position to take advantage of the new trading horizons open to us after Brexit,” she added, exuding optimism that is not shared by many in the government, including her senior colleague, chancellor Philip Hammond.
{{/usCountry}}An official note on Truss’ visit to Signature Flatbreads, which has a unit in India, said that “the government is delivering on the referendum result and is forging a new trading relationship with the rest of the world”, while calls for another EU referendum grow.
EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has called for “realism” on the British side during talks. Speaking before scheduled talks on Friday with Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, he admitted the negotiations were at a difficult and sensitive stage.
He said: “We are prepared to offer Britain a partnership such as there never has been with any other third country. We respect Britain’s red lines scrupulously. In return, they must respect what we are. Single market means single market ...There is no single market à la carte.”