British Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said the US-UK free trade agreement promoted by Brexiteers will not be agreed “soon”, making it less likely before the next general election.
After US President Joe Biden met Rishi Sunak in Belfast on Wednesday, Hunt admitted that he did not believe they had talked about such a trade agreement between the two countries, according to the British newspaper, Evening Standard.
The signing of a free trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom was one of the arguments made by Brexiteers ahead of the referendum on whether London should remain in the European Union in 2016.
When asked about such an agreement, Hunt said in press statements today, Thursday, that it “is not something that we think is imminent.”
Leading experts say the average per capita income in Britain will be about £1,300 less due to Brexit than it would have been if the UK had stayed in the EU.
Interviewed at a meeting with the International Monetary Fund in Washington, Hunt said he expected the UK economy to be “out of the way”.
By next spring, a general election would be more likely then, although many MPs thought autumn was the more likely time.
“We’ll do better than that,” Hunt said. “Our outlook is much better.” It is believed that inflation will drop from 10.4 percent last February to about three percent with the growth of the economy “within a year.”