UK near completion of Gulf trade deal, chancellor says

UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed that the government is nearing completion of a trade agreement with six Gulf nations, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia, describing it as London’s “next deal” in a post-Brexit push to strengthen global trade ties.

In an interview with the BBC today, Reeves outlined the government’s trade priorities, saying recent agreements with the US, the EU and India, all signed within the last two weeks, have positioned the UK as a global leader in trade partnerships.

“Britain is in a better place than any other country in the world in terms of deals with those countries,” she said. “The first deal and the best deal so far with the US, we’ve got the best deal with the EU for any country outside the EU, and we’ve got the best trade agreement with India.”

Reeves emphasised the potential for economic growth through deepening trade relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

Talks with the GCC — a bloc that includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates — were originally initiated by the previous Conservative government and have continued under Labour.

In April, Foreign Secretary David Lammy confirmed that the Labour government was maintaining momentum on the Gulf trade discussions, signalling continuity in one of the previous administration’s key international trade initiatives.