Copy–pasting or negotiating?

One of the arguments repeated ad nauseum by supporters of Brexit has been that once the UK leaves the EU it will embark on a Global Britain project and, free of shackles of EU membership, it will negotiate trade agreements with countries around the world. This chapter proves that the early steps taken by the authorities in London have focused merely on rolling-over pre-Brexit agreements. The analysis of 20 agreements concluded thus far proves that the EU agreements have not only served as a point of departure for post-Brexit deals. They have been either directly or indirectly copy–pasted into UK agreements with third countries.