Back to first principles. Trade deals take years because they commit policies across a whole range of complex areas where policy making takes time. Deciding all such policies in a few months in order to commit it in treaty with your main trading partner is not good government.
Among the policies we need to decide in the coming weeks for trade deals - state aid, public procurement, animal welfare, food safety, environmental protection, labour, agriculture imports, immigration / work visas, goods regulations, standards, conformity assessment...
But we just want a simple trade agreement with zero tariffs...? In the 19th century perhaps. In the 21st century trade partners want to make sure those tariff cuts are meaningful, and that means ensuring competition is fair both ways.
I forgot a few. I don& #39;t know what our policy is on data protection and data flows, access to our financial and insurance markets, investor protection, recognition of qualifications obtained elsewhere...