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The Daily T: Jeremy Hunt on the case for a free-trade Britain

The Daily T: Jeremy Hunt on the case for a free-trade Britain

Telegraph04-07-2025
In the aftermath of Donald Trump's protectionist trade tariffs, how does a post-Brexit UK capitalise on its free trade opportunities? Is it time to reconsider what our tradeable goods really are? And should we be embracing globalisation as the best route forward?
Jeremy Hunt puts his argument before Dan Hannan, founding president of the Institute for Free Trade, and David Henig, director of the UK Trade Policy Project at the European Centre for International Political Economy.
Hunt argues that even Sir Keir Starmer has realised Britain must make more of its post-Brexit opportunities; opportunities that have been limited, he thinks, by uncooperative partners across the channel, particularly in France. David Henig agrees with the former chancellor, describing them as 'blockers'.
Hunt also issues a staunch defence of those, like him, who are all too readily dismissed as 'globalists'. He says globalisation and free trade has in fact been an 'engine for prosperity', but the failure has been in spreading those benefits evenly. On this, he says that Donald Trump's tariff plan shows he has learned 'completely the wrong lesson about what's gone wrong with globalisation'.
In this special Daily T series inspired by his new book, Jeremy Hunt pitches his optimism and ideas to leading experts on how the UK can change the world for the better. From mass migration to leading the AI revolution, we ask: can we be great again?
Watch episodes of the Daily T here. You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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