Politics

'Ready with pen in hand!' US ready for huge post-Brexit trade deal with UK


Mr Pompeo spoke following a meeting with British foreign secretary Dominic Raab and said the special relationship between the British Government and Washington “will become stronger” after Brexit. Mr Raab met Mr Pompeo during his three-day tour of the Americas. Mr Pompeo said: “We support the United Kingdom’s sovereign choice, however Brexit ultimately shakes out.

“And we’ll be on the doorstep, pen in hand, ready to sign a new free trade agreement at the earliest possible time.”

But Mr Pompeo warned a warm relationship could be compromised if Downing Street allows Huawei to build Britain’s 5G network. 

The US has taken a tough line on the firm and previously told No10 that giving Huawei any access would have an impact on UK-US intelligence sharing. 

Mr Pompeo spoke about his warning to Mr Raab last night, saying: “We also talked about the key issue of the sovereign decision about who will build its 5G infrastructure.

“We hope they will put in place criterion for vendors that uphold our shared values. 

“We are very confident they will do so.”

During the trip Mr Raab restated the British Government’s determination to leave the EU and claimed the US President, who he met at the White House on Tuesday evening, “was effusive in his warmth for the United Kingdom”.

He said: “It was amazing to hear an American president talk about our country in such warm terms.”

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“Canadian foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland and I agreed on the need for a seamless transition and we’re going to be looking at taking that work forward with officials and our teams in the weeks ahead leading up to the end of October. 

“For the UK, Brexit is not just about risk management – although that’s important, and I wouldn’t want to be glib or not take that very seriously – but it’s also, and I think our Prime Minister has been very clear about that, about grasping the enormous opportunities of our new found freedoms.”

The trip to the Americas comes as Boris Johnson charms world leaders into No10 in the final months before the Halloween deadline. 

Yesterday Mr Johnson was photographed with a smiling King Abdullah II of Jordan as the Prime Minister headhunts prospective trade partners for a post-Brexit Britain. 

On Tuesday Mr Johnson welcomed Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas. 



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