The broad terms of a trade deal between the UK and Australia have been agreed, the BBC understands, with a formal announcement expected on Tuesday.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian PM Scott Morrison agreed the deal over dinner at Downing Street. This is the first trade deal to be negotiated from scratch since the UK left the EU. It is seen as an important step towards the UK joining a wider Asia Pacific free-trade agreement. The UK government has signed a long list of trade deals over the past year, but they have been rollovers of those the UK already had as part of the EU.
The new trade deal is expected to give UK and Australian food producers and other businesses easier access to each other’s markets – an ambition perhaps alluded to by the meal served up to the pair on Monday evening – Welsh lamb and Scottish smoked salmon, washed down with Australian wine.
