Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith on the five steps the government should now take

A few years before he died, Henry Kissinger described Trump as “one of those figures in history who appears from time to time to mark the end of an era and to force it to give up its old pretences”. It is time for us to give up the pretence that the world owes us a living and time for the Prime Minister to set out a new plan this week based on the aggressive pursuit of growth and competitiveness through unleashing Britain’s private sector.

Free trade has benefited us greatly, it was this country which pioneered it and then used it to sell our inventions around the world — lifting billions out of poverty in the process. But we should be under no delusion: trade benefits those who have something to export, and like other businesses our exporters have been hurting from the day this government took office. Britain now has a unique opportunity. She has regained control of her trade policy and is benefitting directly from Brexit in the form of a lower US tariff band and a wide set of trading alliances including zero tariff goods exports to the EU and membership of the CPTPP.

So here are the five actions the government should immediately take:

Don’t retaliate. Keep calm and keep........

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