The vainglorious fawning over piffling benefits is irritating as Brexit wreaks its damage, writes Business Ian McConnell.

He says it is high time that politicians stop painting a picture that these trade deals somehow constitute more than a hill of beans relative to what is being lost with Brexit.

It was difficult not to be irritated this week as the Labour Government trumpeted its “upgraded” free trade deal with South Korea, with Secretary of State for Scotland Douglas Alexander among those fawning over it.

To say that the celebrations of trade deals by the current UK Government and previous Conservative administrations in recent years have been over the top does not really get anywhere near capturing the extent to which the noise exceeds the economic benefits.

All the while, the Labour Government sticks doggedly to its Brexit “red lines”. It will not rejoin the European Union, the single market, or even the customs union.

So the UK continues to be without the huge benefits of frictionless trade with its biggest trading partner and free movement of people between the UK and European Economic Area.

While shunning these huge benefits, we have heard so much hot air from the current and previous administrations at Westminster over things which deliver minuscule benefits relative to what has been lost with the Conservatives’ hard Brexit.

The free trade deal announced this week with South Korea, known officially as the Republic of Korea, is a case in point.

As well as the vainglorious proclamations at a UK level, we had a tailored Scottish version of the bigging up of this free trade deal, including comments from Mr Alexander.

The press release issued on Monday was headed........

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