Facts

But was she wrong? By the time that Liz Truss made her comments, the UK-based Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had reported that in the year following the end of the transition period, UK trade volumes fell, saying that the UK “appears to have a less trade intensive economy, with trade as a share of GDP falling 12 per cent since 2019, two and a half times more than in any other G7 country”.

Analysis by POLITICO at the start of this year shows that the UK performed worse post-Brexit in terms of trade than comparable EU countries, which generally recovered to pre-COVID levels by 2022. 

PIIE analysis from April 2022 similarly shows that UK trade has not recovered from the pandemic as quickly as comparable EU countries, citing Brexit as a reason. 

Verdict

Brexit has negatively impacted trade and investment. Liz Truss was right first time. BBC interviewer Nick Robinson notably failed to challenge her on this point.

We emailed Liz Truss’ office offering her the chance to respond. The email was received, but no reply.