A brace.

Be that as it may.
Truss has earned this significant promotion on account of achieving no less than 96 new trade deals!!

Sadly they are all the same or worse than the agreements that we had pre-Brexit. Of the 70 countries where our trade relationship was through the EU, most (66) have just been rolled over and are exactly the same as before.

In a few cases we have managed to negotiate a worse trade deal. A good example is the one Truss negotiated with Japan. To be fair it was always going to be worse because the trade deal that the EU has with Japan says that if they offer better terms to any other country of trading block then similar conditions must be offered to them. Japan therefore made sure that the deal was inferior. They threw in an offer on cheese, something Truss is keen on, as a distraction. The Japanese eat very little cheese and it's unlikely to become more popular. It incoprehensalbe to understand why she is considered a success.

As all firemen will tell you, never trust a truss.
When it fails it fails totally and usually without warning.

Well it’s not really a bonus as we already had these trade deals before on exactly the same terms. What we have ‘gained’ is an internal border in the UK and a mountain of bureaucracy and extra costs in relation to trade with our previous largest trading partner the EU.

As regards how much the UK is ‘wanted and ‘needed’ as a trade partner of course countries will be happy to sign an identical trade dead to the one that previously existed and if an opportunity to sign one that is better for them than the one they previously had arises they will likely be very happy to sign.

Have you seen the Japan CEPA?

I didn't know it had been published.

Responsibility Deficit Disorder is a medical condition. Symptoms include inability to be corrected when wrong, false sense of superiority, desire to share personal info no else cares about, general hubris. It's a medical issue rather than pure arrogance.

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