Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has described the prospects of a speedy trade agreement between India and the UK as “the biggest bucket of b*****ks” he has ever heard.
Rudd said Australia’s own trade talks with India, which he launched in 2009, were still on going and that chances of Britain getting one sooner were unrealistic.
He told the LBC’s Tom Swarbrick: “Of all the arguments I’ve seen from the Brexiteers – I wrote in the British media last year – I think that is the biggest bucket of b*****ks I have heard so far.”
“Ah, right. Apologies for the language,” Swarbrick cut in.
Rudd continued: “I launched the Australia Free Trade Agreement negotiations in 2009. They are nowhere near a conclusion in 2020 then they were back then.”
Britain is attempting to “roll over” trade deals as an EU member with third-party countries and has championed Brexit as an opportunity to strike its own agreements.
It recently signed a trade pact with Singapore and Vietnam, claiming such treaties were “further proof” that Britain can “succeed” after Brexit.
It also agreed a new pact with Japan, which the trade secretary, Liz Truss, was unable to explain was better than the one Britain currently enjoys as an EU member.
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@rodlux wrote on Twitter: “Sometimes all it takes is a straight talking Aussie to say highlight the b*****ks of Brexit.”
@MMcminty lauded Rudd’s ‘poetic’ style, tweeting: “Perfect phrase. Must be the alliteration that appeals to me, and of course the truth at its core.”
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