UK Resumes US Trade Talks on September 8

Bilateral trade between the two countries was worth £221 billion ($293 billion, €248 billion) last year, and a free trade deal could increase this by £15.3 billion over 2018 levels in the long run, according to the British government.

At the same time as the Commons met, a political row rumbled on over the UK government's possible appointment of Australia's former Prime Minister Tony Abbott as a trade envoy to help with post-Brexit deals.

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London-born Abbott has been criticized for being a climate change skeptic, and for positions considered misogynist and homophobic.

The main opposition Labour party has called him a "Trump-worshipping misogynist".

Ministers were forced to back his record on Thursday. Health Secretary Matt Hancock defended Abbott's views to Sky News television, saying he was also an expert in trade.

Questioned about any appointment in the Commons, Hands told MPs that he welcomed "the fact that a former Prime Minister of Australia is willing to help this country out". 

(DMH/PHZ/WAI, Agence France-Presse)

Source: http://u.afp.com/3bTb