Argh. Can we not do the & #39;new FTAs vs Brexit GDP comparisons& #39;.

Of course new FTAs aren& #39;t going to make up for leaving the single market in GDP terms. They can& #39;t, because FTAs involve less economic integration (and therefore less of a sovereignty trade-off).

Compensating for Brexit is not the reason to do FTAs. These & #39;gotcha& #39; arguments have more than a whiff of fighting the last war about them.

The reason the economic hit from leaving the single market is relatively high is precisely because the Brexiteers had a point; it was so much more than just a trade agreement.

You can argue the econ hit isn& #39;t worth the sovereignty but ultimately that argument was lost in 2016

Final point - small projected gains from FTAs are not unique to the UK, they& #39;re the nature of the beast. It& #39;s not like we& #39;re doing uniquely crap FTAs.

Projected gain to EU GDP from EU-Mercosur over 15 years is +0.1%. Projected gains to US and EU GDP from TTIP were about +0.5%

PS: modelled GDP hit from an FTA Brexit is around -5% (NB that& #39;s slower growth, *NOT* the economy shrinking); modelled hit from WTO Brexit is around -8%.

So even an FTA with the EU, our largest trading partner, on our doorstep, is only worth about +3% compared to not having one.

Does all this mean FTAs are pointless? Of course not. It just means GDP modelling doesn& #39;t really capture their benefits and isn& #39;t a very good yardstick.