Lord David Cameron admitted he is “impressed” with Britain’s post-Brexit trade success.
The new Foreign Secretary said there has been “a lot of very good work” in terms of free trade agreements.
The former prime minister, who resigned after losing the 2016 Brexit referendum, added that he was “delighted” the UK joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Indo-Pacific trade bloc.
In his first lengthy parliamentary grilling since his sensational political comeback, he told the Lords European Affairs Committee yesterday [THURS]: “If you leave the EU the key thing is to take advantage of the new situation you’re in.
“We’re not in the customs union, we’re not in the single market, we’re making this partnership work.
“As part of that arrangement we’re free to make these trade arrangements with the rest of the world.
“I’m delighted that we’re doing CPTPP. We’ll be one of the largest players in this new emerging bloc. We can help shape, develop and grow it.
“While currently it’s a small percentage of our trade, these are some of the fastest growing economies in the world.
“I think we can do that consistent with our obligations under the withdrawal agreement and we can make that work and that’s what we should be doing.”
The former leader of the Remain campaign insisted there is “no point leaving and not taking advantage of leaving”.
“And that’s what we’re doing with things like that,” he said.
“Obviously there’s a sort of capacity issue about how many trade deals we can do, how quickly. But again I’ve been impressed that actually there’s a lot of very good work that’s been done and we need to keep that up.”
Lord Cameron said the “heat and anger” has come out of the UK’s relationship with the EU and that they can be “friends, neighbours and partners”.
He said: “It’s been interesting coming back to see how it’s working and how problems are being fixed and opportunities are being taken.
“I think a lot of the heat and anger has come out of the relationship. It’s now much more functional and I think it’s functioning well.”
He warned against trying to reopen and “change the nature” of Britain’s post-Brexit trading agreement with Brussels.
Lord Cameron said: “Let’s make the most of what we’ve got, I think is the way I would approach it. I don’t think trying to reopen it and change the nature of it is what we should be doing.
“We’re not suddenly going to reopen free movement or go back into the customs union or any of those things. That is absolutely not what this is about.”
He also denied Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill risks bringing the UK into conflict with its international obligations.
