Osborne warns of need for trade links

The former chancellor played down the prospects of trade deals with other nations around the world replacing the scale of the business links with the other 27 European Union countries.

Mr Osborne, who was a key figure in the Remain campaign, insisted he was not "fighting the last war" but "the devil is in the details" of the post-Brexit deal.

The senior Tory also warned that consumers could face rising prices for up to two years because of the fall in the value of sterling following the vote to leave the EU last June.

Speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce annual conference in Westminster, he said the Government still had big issues to tackle in the Brexit settlement, including on immigration policy.

He said: "Now we need to have the debate about immigration, where I think it's important we have access to skilled immigration from around the world and we are a magnet for talent.

"I think it's important our universities continue to attract students from around the world - indeed the Government boasts that one in seven world leaders were educated in Britain at some point. Great, let's make sure that continues to be the case.

"Let's make sure that we go on doing trade with our biggest export market, otherwise withdrawing from the single market will be the biggest single act of protectionism in the history of the United Kingdom and no amount of trade deals with New Zealand are going to replace the trade that we do at the moment with our big European neighbours.

"I think there are positive answers to all of these questions, I think we can achieve good trade, we can get that skilled immigration, we can have a fairer, competitive, internal economy.

"But they are the big decisions before us."

In an apparent swipe at Mrs May's administration he said: "You can produce any numbers of white papers on your industrial strategy, but unless you have answered the question 'are you going to allow, in a way that is not currently allowed, the Government to step in and provide support for an industry that has failed, which is not allowed because of state aid rules' - if you can't answer that question you haven't really gone into the meat of an industrial strategy.

"You can have a business policy, but unless you tell the business audience the kinds of people you are going to be able to recruit and the kinds of people you are not going to be able to recruit, there is a big missing part to it.

"I'm not surprised all these questions haven't been answered because they are very big questions and I'm not blaming the Government because these are big issues which the British government has not had to think about for a long time."

Mr Osborne, who was one of the leading architects of the campaign dubbed Project Fear by critics which warned about the economic damage of Brexit, said the devaluation of sterling was having an impact.

He said: "The country has made a decision - and I accept that decision - and we are leaving the EU.

"There have already been some economic consequences of that - a big devaluation, and we are not going to pretend like Harold Wilson did that the 'pound in your pocket' isn't worth any less.

"That has some benefit for exporters but it raises import prices and makes things more expensive for consumers and we are going to see that play out over the next year or two."

ends

Page 2: 13:00

Responding to Mr Osborne's comments, a Downing Street spokesman said: "The Prime Minister has set out the fact that she is confident and optimistic that we will get a successful deal.

"What's important is the recognition that we are not going into this in a defeatist spirit, we are going into it with optimism and a spirit of goodwill.

"We are seeking a comprehensive and bold free trade agreement with the EU. Leaving the EU allows us to strike trade deals across the world."

Tuesday's weekly Cabinet meeting was dominated by Brexit, with Exiting the EU Secretary David Davis and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox updating colleagues on the progress their departments have made.

ends