The cross-party UK Trade and Business Commission of MPs and business leaders has published a comprehensive report containing 114 recommendations aimed at removing barriers to growth and preparing the UK economy for the next decade 1/ ft.com/content/bb322035-5a28…

The Guardian on our new report: "It’s only when organisations pop up and advocate for the young that you realise how rare that now is. "This morning the cross-party UKTBC produced a report recommending terms for a time-limited youth experience scheme." theguardian.com/commentisfre…

In our new report, we recommend that the UK and the EU launch a new time-limited Youth Experience Scheme, capped at 44,000 visas in the first year. This would restore opportunities for young people who have been denied them by the existing Brexit deal. tradeandbusiness.uk/news/lau…

On the UKTBC's new report: "Ministers could allow more than 40,000 EU citizens into Britain as part of a youth mobility scheme without increasing net migration, research suggests, before talks in Brussels on Starmer’s EU reset." thetimes.com/uk/politics/art…

Our new report outlines how the UK and the EU could implement a Youth Experience Scheme. “The report is likely to give weight to the arguments of Britain’s negotiators in talks over the deal,” writes Arj Singh. Read here: inews.co.uk/news/politics/uk…

Andrew Opie from the British Retail Consortium on how to make the best out of the SPS negotiations.

Ed Barker from the Agricultural Industries Confederation on how to make the best out of the SPS negotiations.

Andrew Opie from the British Retail Consortium: "Having the segment for different markets, either UK or Northern Ireland and UK and EU, isn't great in terms of trying to do that within two regulatory regimes."

Gail Soutar from the National Farmers’​ Union: 🚨 "We have seen double digit reduction in the volume of trades across a whole range of products." "But having access to overseas markets is really important to farmers."

Gail Soutar from the National Farmers’​ Union: 🚨 "This is potentially a really exciting opportunity for us to try and regain markets that we have lost or stepped away from in Europe."

Ed Barker from the Agricultural Industries Confederation: "That is ultimately good for consumers because we're likely to see the variability choice to consumers in all parts of the economy improve."

Gail Soutar from the National Farmers’​ Union: 🚨"There's a real crisis of confidence in farming at the moment." "If we can get the SPS agreement right, we can grow that confidence."

Andrew Opie from the British Retail Consortium: "Our experience has been that the EU has been quite demanding around compliance." "Compliance will be really key to then switching off those border controls."

Ed Barker from the Agricultural Industries Confederation: "What is a global trade issue mustn't be distilled into an EU-UK mini drama amongst a wider negotiation."

Andrew Opie from the British Retail Consortium on what exemptions he thinks the UK government should be seeking from an SPS agreement.

Ed Barker from the Agricultural Industries Confederation: "Not having to have export health certificates is the big win for business." "In many cases these have been prohibitive for trade, or they've added considerable cost to end consumers."

Andrew Opie from the British Retail Consortium: "We'd be very interested in what the EU might expect in return for those carve-outs, particularly in terms of controls on products moving either to the EU and Northern Ireland."

Andrew Opie on what he is hoping to see from a UK-EU SPS agreement. "Our retailers based in the UK do have EU stores and a reduction in paperwork for them would be enormous. it's extremely difficult to move products just in time."

🚨 Join us at 10:30am today as the UKTBC discusses the SPS deal. Our panel includes: Gail Soutar - National Farmers’​ Union Ed Barker - Agricultural Industries Confederation Andrew Opie - Food and Sustainability Director, British Retail Consortium youtube.com/watch?v=HyPOxD4M…

UKTBC Chair Andrew Lewin MP: "It's critical that this government continues to drive forward the UK-EU reset and does it at pace." "An SPS deal that could reduce food prices, a youth mobility deal that will be good for growth and cultural connections."

The UK Trade and Business Commission convened a panel of leading experts this week to assess the state of UK-EU relations and examine progress toward a proposed ‘Youth Experience Scheme.’ bit.ly/3MkZqgY