Emily Thornberry laughs in Tory MP's face for praising Brexit trade deal

Emily Thornberry burst out laughing after a Tory MP praised a Brexit trade deal.

The Labour MP laughed at Laura Trott during an edition of Politics Live, after the pensions minister called free-trade agreement with Pacific countries, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) a "huge trade deal".

After an awkward silence in response to Thornberry's titters, the Labour MP said "sorry" and Trott asked her "would you not find?".

Thornberry replied: "It is a choice between a deal with the European Union who are our closest neighbours and with the Pacific".

"I think the CPTPP is not the answer to leaving the European Union," she continued. "Of course it isn't".

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

CPTPP is a free trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam and was established in 2018 to cut trading barriers between the countries involved.

It comes after it was reported the deal, which Kemi Badenoch signed last week, will "not lead to substantial economic gains for the UK", according to top trade experts.

Nevertheless, a Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: “This is a great deal for the UK economy, delivering billions of pounds worth of trade each year and every nation and region will benefit.

“CPTPP will now have a combined GDP of £12 trillion and account for 15 per cent of global GDP. CPTPP businesses employed one in every 100 UK workers in 2019 so joining the group will support jobs, increase wages and create opportunities across the country.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.