Labour’s plans to improve the UK’s trading relationship with Europe will have “minimal” impact on reducing the economic costs of Brexit, a report by a leading group of academics and trade economists has warned.
The 72-page report from the UK in a Changing Europe think-tank was published as shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves promised to improve EU trade ties by aligning the UK more closely with Brussels regulations and seeking a better deal for service professionals.
However, the report found that Labour’s plan to seek “mainly technical agreements” to improve the EU-UK trade deal, including cutting red tape on food exports and visas for travelling musicians, would only “sand away at the sharpest edges” of the problems caused by Brexit.