‘No chance of trade deal’ Gordon Brown warns as Britain at ‘war with US’ over Brexit bill – Express

Former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown has warned Britain has "no chance" of signing a trade deal with Joe Bidens administration if the issues arising from the Northern Ireland conundrum are not solved with the European Union.

In an exclusive interview with Sky News Beth Rigby, he said: "Weve got to do is repair our trading relations. If we cannot repair our relations with Europe and America, were at war with both of them if you like for different reasons but all related"

Sky News Beth then cut him off, asking: "Why are we at war with America?"

"Well, were at war with America over Ireland because they will not sign a trade treaty as long as we cannot sort out the issues related to Ireland", Mr Brown said.

Sky News Beth Rigby interrupted, saying: "Actually, President Biden, I asked him about this explicitly last year, last September. And he said he thought the two things were separate. That there was a trade deal and that there was the Good Friday Agreement."

Gordon Brown hit back: "Well, he may think that. But the American Congress will not think that. Theres no chance of a trade deal between Britain and America unless we can sort out the problems that arise in Ireland."

And of course, theres no chance of getting better trade relationships with Europe unless we can sort these problems out, as well. And thats very much part of our future because if we cannot export to the leading markets in the world and cannot this successfully with these new industries and new technologies, then the cost-of-living crisis will be with us for years and not just temporarily," Mr Brown said.

Boris Johnsons Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has tried to fix the Northern Ireland conundrum with a Northern Ireland Protocol bill that will scrap the Irish Sea checks border.

The border issue came on top of the agenda when the DUP party refused to form a coalition with Sinn Fein after Mays election on the grounds the Irish Sea border would exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis in Northern Ireland and distance the province from Great Britain.

Liz Truss then unilaterally introduced the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which she succeeded in passing in the House of Commons.

Under Liz Truss Protocol bill, goods travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland would go through a green lane whereas goods destined to the EU would go through checks via a red lane while still leaving companies the option to abide by whichever rules they want.

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'No chance of trade deal' Gordon Brown warns as Britain at 'war with US' over Brexit bill - Express