UK and NZ commit to a FTA

The Herald reports:

Prime Minister Bill English would have been entitled to feel quite cock-a-hoop when he rolled up to 10 Downing St for his meeting with Theresa May early this morning.

The Times newspaper has run a joint opinion piece from English and May in which they pledged their troth to one another by vowing to sign a free trade agreement once May had triggered Brexit and removed Britain from the European Union.

The speed with which New Zealand pelted up the aisle the minute the UK announced it was to be single was almost unseemly. But it paid off.

The opinion piece talked up the possibility of a Commonwealth trade area as well as committing to a bilateral New Zealand – UK agreement.

In it the leaders say that, as Britain prepares to leave the European Union, “we are determined to open a new and exciting chapter in the close friendship between our two countries”.

That will involve working towards a “bold” new UK-NZ Free Trade Agreement. And, while the UK is part of the EU, it will continue to support an EU-NZ FTA.

Would be great to have FTAs with both the UK and the EU. I suspect we will get a far cleaner FTA with the UK.