Trump administration told UK that no-deal Brexit would leave 'all to play for' in US trade deal, Labour dossier reveals
Talks just two weeks before Boris Johnson became prime minister lay bare US enthusiasm for an agreement after a crash-out Brexit
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Your support makes all the difference.The US told the UK government “there would be all to play for” to secure a rapid trade deal if it went for a no-deal Brexit, a dossier revealed by Labour shows.
The most recent of the documents – dating from just two weeks before Boris Johnson became prime minister in late July – lays bare the Trump administration’s enthusiasm to strike an agreement.
It says the White House had shown “a desire to be fully prepared for the launch of negotiations after the end of October”, when the new prime minister had vowed to leave the EU “do or die”.
And it states: “There would be all to play for in a No Deal situation” – before adding “UK commitment to the Customs Union and Single Market would make a UK-US FTA [free trade agreement] a non-starter.”
The revelation comes amid renewed warnings that the UK is still on course for a crash-out Brexit – at the end of 2020 – because of Mr Johnson’s refusal to extend the brief transition period, during which trade will be uninterrupted.
The prime minister has dismissed Jeremy Corbyn’s claim that the NHS will be in danger at the hands of Donald Trump as “total nonsense”, insisting: “The NHS is not on the table in any way.”
But, at a press conference to highlight the dossier, Mr Corbyn said the section showed the Trump administration “advocating a no-deal Brexit”
“What’s at stake in a deal with Trump could not be more important for our country,” the Labour leader warned.
And Tom Brake, the Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesman, said: “The fact that the US trade representatives have said a no-deal leaves 'all to play for' hits home how Boris Johnson must be stopped.
“It could not be clearer that Brexit will make the UK weaker, and that Donald Trump wants to profit from this weakness.”
The risk of a no-deal is thought to be growing after the Conservative manifesto ruled out extending the brief post-Brexit transition period beyond December 2020.
It means the UK would lose all economic and security ties with the EU unless a new complex deal can be struck in time – a prospect dismissed by trade experts as all-but impossible.
This week, Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, told a confidential meeting of MEPs: “This is very difficult scenario, not much time. Eleven months is too short.”
The timetable for a new trade deal is even shorter than the end of 2020, because an extension to the transition period must be requested by June 2020.
On the dossier on the UK-US trade talks, Liz Truss, the international trade secretary, claimed Mr Corbyn was trying to create a smokescreen to deflect from difficulties over antisemitism and Brexit.
“Jeremy Corbyn is getting desperate and is out-and-out lying to the public about what these documents contain,” she said. “He has always believed in conspiracy theories.”
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