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Macron says ground operations in Ukraine possible

Disagreements over the possibility of ground operations and the delivery of long-range missiles to Kyiv had threatened to undermine cooperation between the allies…reports Asian Lite News

French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview published Saturday evening that Western ground operations in Ukraine might be necessary “at some point,” days after meeting with German and Polish leaders.

Last month Macron refused to rule out putting troops on the ground in Ukraine, which prompted a stern response from Berlin and other European partners.

But the French president has not recanted from his position, but stressed that Western allies would not take the initiative.

“Maybe at some point — I don’t want it, I won’t take the initiative — we will have to have operations on the ground, whatever they may be, to counter the Russian forces,” Macron told newspaper Le Parisien in an interview conducted on Friday.

“France’s strength is that we can do it.”

Disagreements over the possibility of ground operations and the delivery of long-range missiles to Kyiv had threatened to undermine cooperation between the allies.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reacted angrily to Macron’s earlier refusal to rule out sending troops to Ukraine and his pointed comments urging allies not to be “cowards.”

Macron met his German and Polish counterparts in Berlin on Friday, in a show of solidarity behind Kyiv.

After the meeting, Macron said the three countries of the so-called Weimar Triangle were “united” in their aim to “never let Russia win and to support the Ukrainian people until the end.”

ALSO READ-Shapps abandoned Odesa trip over security threat

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UK to hire 2,000 Indian doctors to staff NHS

While the initiative is seen by some as a solution to the NHS’s doctor shortage, others expressed concerns over the potential brain drain from India’s healthcare system…reports Asian Lite News

National Health Service (NHS) will recruit 2,000 doctors from India on a fast-track basis as part of an initiative to address the acute shortage of medicos in the country, industry sources said.

The NHS will conduct postgraduate training for the first batch of doctors, who then will be deployed at hospitals in Britain after 6 to 12 months of training. These doctors will be exempted from the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) examination upon completion of the training programme, they said.

While the initiative is seen by some as a solution to the NHS’s doctor shortage, others expressed concerns over the potential brain drain from India’s healthcare system.

Ravi Bhatke, an orthopaedic surgeon closely involved with the NHS, said the NHS has a long history of relying on doctors from overseas with almost 25 to 30 per cent of its medical workforce coming from non-UK trained doctors.

“The NHS is also investing in training its own doctors in the long term. In my opinion, this initiative will not motivate more doctors from India to go to Britain because India is growing and financially it is not that lucrative anymore in Britain. The NHS is looking at cutting down on overseas recruitment in the future,” he said.

Under this programme, the NHS has established training centres at major private hospitals in Indian cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Nagpur, Gurugram, Calicut, Bengaluru, Chennai, Indore, and Mysore.

A lack of widespread awareness about the initiative has been noted. While hospitals in India have established training centres, the initiative’s publicity has been limited, leaving many in the medical community unaware of its existence. Bajaj attributes this to the conservative approach of British institutions.

Ajesh Raj Saksena, senior consultant surgical oncologist at Apollo Hospital, Hyderabad, said the initiative not only promises to mitigate the medical staff shortage in the UK but also enhances the skill set and exposure of Indian medical professionals.

ALSO READ-MENTAL HEALTH: NHS OFFERS TALKING THERAPIES

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Shapps abandoned Odesa trip over security threat

It added that the strike in Odesa the previous day raised the threat level to Shapps’s safety from substantial to critical. “Putin has shown himself to be reckless, ruthless and careless,” Shapps told the newspaper…reports Asian Lite News

Grant Shapps aborted a trip to southern Ukraine last week for “security reasons”, the UK defence ministry said. The defence secretary had to scrap his visit to Odesa last week after UK intelligence reportedly warned Russia had become aware of his travel plans.

Shapps was due to travel to Odesa a day after a missile hit the city while the Ukrainian president and the Greek prime minister were visiting. Five people were killed in the strike, Ukrainian authorities said.

Shapps had travelled on an overnight train from Poland to Ukraine, accompanied by chief of the defence staff, Adm Sir Tony Radakin, and a small team of British officials. The aim of their journey was to meet Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and senior members of his wartime administration.

But having arrived in Kyiv on 7 March, Shapps’s onward journey to Odesa was cancelled abruptly at the last minute, following fears surrounding his safety. According to the Sunday Times, which had a reporter travelling with his delegation, the trip was called off after an intelligence update revealed the Kremlin’s knowledge of it.

It added that the strike in Odesa the previous day raised the threat level to Shapps’s safety from substantial to critical. “Putin has shown himself to be reckless, ruthless and careless,” Shapps told the newspaper.

“The fact that he came perilously close to essentially assassinating two western leaders, it doesn’t matter whether that is deliberate or accidental. What the hell is he doing, and why the heck would the West allow him to do that kind of thing?”

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “On a recent trip to Ukraine, the defence secretary did not make a planned visit to Odesa for security reasons. The UK continues to provide strong support for Ukraine and the defence secretary’s visit and engagements only underscored the importance of this support in the face of Putin’s aggression.”

Earlier this week it emerged that an RAF plane carrying Shapps between the UK and Poland had its GPS signal jammed while flying close to Russian territory.

UK advises Ukraine to go on defensive

Shapps and Army Commander Antony Radakin have advised Ukraine’s senior leadership and military commanders on war strategy against the Russia as quoted by media reports.

Shapps and Radakin met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Defence Minister Rustem Umierov, and the new Commander-in-Chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

According to the media, Radakin was concerned that Syrskyi would become overly focused on ground battles, while the UK Commander spent two years attempting to develop a Ukrainian strategy based on Western military doctrine and the need to advance on land, in the air, and at sea.

Radakin, in particular, is actively involved in the development of a new Ukrainian Navy that meets NATO standards. He advised paying attention to the Iranian-style fleet, which consists of lighter, more manoeuvrable ships and drones capable of restraining Russia in the Black Sea while also protecting vital shipping routes for Ukrainian exports.

According to a news article, during a meeting at the Mariinsky Palace, Shapps and Radakin advised abandoning plans for a frontline offensive in favour of maintaining defence on the northern and eastern fronts and, if necessary, retreating to more advantageous positions to hold off the Russian Army, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

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Sunak’s leadership in turmoil amid infighting

According to private polling, the Tories are heading for the worst defeat in their history…reports Asian Lite News

A minister came out strongly in defence of his party leader Rishi Sunak on Sunday as the increasingly beleaguered prime minister attempts to ride out infighting within the ranks, with sections to the right of the governing Conservative Party calling for a leadership change ahead of a general election expected later in the year.

The 43-year-old has ruled out the prospect of an early election in May and with possibly months before he decides to go to the electorate, the murmurings of rebellion within the Tory ranks fearful of losing their seats seem to be growing at a steady pace.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper was directly asked during a television interview if he thinks Sunak will be the leader of the Conservative Party at the general election.

“Yes he will, and he’ll take us into that election and he’ll set out very clearly that we’re a government with a plan, Harper told Sky News’.

“The plan is working, we’re driving down inflation, we’re reducing people’s taxes. We’re the only party that’s got a plan to deal with the priorities of the country that will take us into that election and set out a choice,” he said.

On rumours that a group of Tory MPs are keen to replace Sunak with his former leadership rival and now Leader of the House of Commons in his Cabinet, Penny Mordaunt, Harper added: What I would say to all my colleagues is this; I spend my time as Transport Secretary focusing on doing what I think is the right thing for the country, making decisions that I think are sensible.”

“That is the approach that the Prime Minister takes as well. He focuses on making the right decisions even if in the short term they are not necessarily popular,” Harper said.

According to The Daily Telegraph, a meeting is understood to have taken place this weekend between leading figures on the right wing of the Tory party and prominent supporters of Mordaunt from when she previously ran for the Tory leadership after the exit of Boris Johnson as prime minister in 2022.

Some right-wing MPs met with Team Penny this week, where they expressed the view they were prepared to back her. They take the view that Penny is preferable to Rishi Sunak right now. Penny Mordaunt is now seen as the most likely person to stem the losses, the newspaper quoted a source as saying.

The discussions are reflective of despair among some Conservative MPs at the steady lead in favour of the Opposition Labour Party in pre-poll surveys and the prospect of heading towards a disastrous defeat. With the Spring Budget earlier this month failing to turn the dial in the party’s favour and a series of high-profile exits from the Tory ranks, there is growing discontent among the Conservative backbenchers.

However, some of Sunak’s very vocal critics and Boris Johnson allies, such as former minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, have dismissed the idea of replacing the British Indian leader at this juncture in the electoral cycle as madness.

Interesting to hear lots of media reporting of centre-right Conservative MPs pushing for a certain leadership candidate to replace Rishi. Having spoken with lots of my colleagues, no one seems to have heard or been pushing for such a thing, said Andrea Jenkyns, a Tory MP critical of Sunak’s leadership.

Labour, meanwhile, has jumped on the turmoil to demand an early general election.

This is not in the national interest anymore. It is irresponsible. We need stability in this country. He [Sunak] could stabilise this by naming the date of a general election. Otherwise, I fear we may have a Tory leadership election ahead of a general election, said shadow minister Jonathan Ashworth.

The pressure on Sunak is likely to intensify further after the local council and mayoral elections take place across England on May 2, when the Tories are expected to suffer losses.

Harper said: “The prime minister made it quite clear at the beginning of the year that his working assumption was the election was going to be at the end of the year. All this sort of froth we’ve had about an election being in May was always nonsense, frankly, and he made that clear at the beginning of the year.”

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow paymaster general, called on Sunak to name the election date.

“There’s Tory MPs who are in the papers today saying Rishi Sunak can’t continue,” he said. “This is not in the national interest any more. It is irresponsible. We need stability in this country. He could stabilise this by calling, naming the date of, a general election. Otherwise I fear we may have a Tory leadership election ahead of a general election.”

According to private polling seen by the Mail on Sunday, the Tories are heading for the worst defeat in their history. The seat-by-seat research, which the newspaper said was conducted on behalf of corporate businesses, suggests Labour could be on course to win 250 seats and the Conservatives fewer than 150.

ALSO READ-Sunak rules out polls on May 2

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UK, India put FTA talks on ice

The next round of formal trade talks can commence only after the Lok Sabha polls have concluded…reports Asian Lite News

The 14th round of the free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between India and the UK has now closed, with formal negotiations being put on hold as India heads into election campaign mode as the general election schedule is announced on Saturday.

According to UK officials familiar with the discussions, a lot of progress has been made but the teams are not in a position to conclude an agreement which led to the Round 14 closing on Friday.

The next round of formal trade talks can commence only after the Lok Sabha polls have concluded.

The India-UK FTA negotiations, which opened in January 2022, are aimed at securing an ambitious outcome for bilateral trade currently worth around GBP 38.1 billion a year as per official statistics from last month.

We anticipate that while some talks might happen between rounds, the next round of negotiations will take place after the Indian elections, official sources in the UK said.

Neither side is walking away from talks. It’s just that we don’t have what we need yet to finalise a deal that meets our joint ambition across goods, services and investment. We’re very proud of the track record we have and how far we’ve been able to come with this trade deal so far. Negotiators have worked really hard in the past few years and we’ve managed to get a lot of chapters closed, the sources said.

The development follows a phone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his UK counterpart, Rishi Sunak, earlier this week when both leaders reaffirmed their commitment towards securing a historic and comprehensive deal and reiterated the importance of reaching an ambitious outcome.

The UK and India are continuing to work towards an ambitious trade deal. Whilst we don’t comment on the details of live negotiations, we are clear that we will only sign a deal that is fair, balanced and ultimately in the best interests of the British people and the economy,” a UK Department of Business and Trade spokesperson said.

Last week, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal told that long-term benefits for the economy were the key in such FTA negotiations and that India was seeking a balanced, fair and equitable deal.

His UK counterpart, Secretary of State for Business and Trade Kemi Badenoch, said during a trade conference in London earlier that while a trade deal with India is possible before general elections in the country, Britain does not want to use that as a deadline.

The bigger the country, the more complex the trade agreement. And also, the more different the economy is, the harder it is to negotiate… India is still very protectionist, where we are very, very liberalised, Badenoch noted.

The UK wants India to significantly reduce tariffs on UK exports such as food, cars and whisky that can currently be as high as 150 per cent. India in turn is concerned about the fairness of rules applied to Indian workers temporarily transferred to the UK on business visas who have to pay national insurance, despite not being eligible for UK pensions or social security benefits.

ALSO READ-62nd Tory MP calls it quits

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62nd Tory MP calls it quits

Four former Conservatives who now sit as independents are also leaving, meaning that just over a fifth of the Tory MPs elected in 2019 are quitting…reports Asian Lite News

The armed forces minister, James Heappey, is to step down imminently from the role and will leave the House of Commons at the next general election, in yet another headache for Rishi Sunak.

Heappey, a former soldier who has carried out various roles in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) since 2019, tweeted a letter he had sent to his constituency association saying he had taken “the painful decision” to not stand again as an MP.

It is understood that Heappey, who has been armed forces minister since July 2022, will also leave this role in the next week or two.

While Heappey has been a vocal advocate for more defence spending, his departure from the MoD is not believed to be directly connected to policy differences, but due to personal circumstances.

He becomes the 62nd Conservative MP to say they will not stand in the next election, with Theresa May and the former cabinet minister Brandon Lewis announcing this in the past week.

Four former Conservatives who now sit as independents are also leaving, meaning that just over a fifth of the Tory MPs elected in 2019 are quitting.

Heappey’s constituency of Wells, in Somerset, which he has represented since 2015, is to disappear under boundary changes at the election. He had been adopted for the new seat of Wells and Mendip Hills, but said in his letter to the chair of the local Conservative association that he would now not stand.

“After much reflection, I am afraid I have taken the painful decision not to stand as a candidate in the forthcoming general election,” he wrote.

“As you know, a great deal has changed in my life over the last few years and I have concluded that now is the time to step away from politics, prioritise my family and pursue a different career.

“In the meantime I will support Rishi Sunak as our party leader and prime minister in government until such time as he wishes me to step down, and then from the backbenches.”

Heappey had a majority of just under 10,000 in the 2019 election, and the Liberal Democrats, who came second then, are likely to heavily target the new seat.

Viewed as a competent and well-respected part of the MoD team, he has supported the wider push in the department and among other Conservative MPs and ministers for an increase in spending on defence given increased threats from the likes of Russia.

Earlier this month the Foreign Office minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan and the Home Office minister Tom Tugendhat publicly called for defence spending to reach at least 2.5% of GDP, and others have called for an eventual target of 3%.

Before becoming an MP, Heappey spent 10 years serving in the Rifles, including in Afghanistan, Iraq, Northern Ireland and Kenya, and reached the rank of major.

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Bhandari gets nod to appeal against extradition from UK

Bhandari, represented by Janes Solicitors, had sought to appeal against the lower court verdict on eight grounds, three of which were granted in a court order by Justice Robert Jay last October and four others were approved during this week’s hearing…reports Asian Lite News

Sanjay Bhandari, a consultant in the defence sector wanted in India on alleged tax evasion and money laundering charges, on Thursday won permission to appeal against his extradition order by the High Court in London.

Former Secretary of State, Suella Braverman, had ordered Bhandari’s extradition to face criminal proceedings in India last year following a Westminster Magistrates’ Court ruling in November 2022.

However, the 62-year-old businessman, who offered consultancy services to defence manufacturers bidding for Indian government contracts through his firm Offset India Solutions, had sought permission to appeal against the verdict of District Judge Michael Snow in the High Court. The case will now proceed to a four-day substantive hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London later this year.

“I am satisfied that the grounds are reasonably arguable,” ruled Justice Pushpinder Saini at the conclusion of a half-day renewal appeal hearing on Thursday.

Bhandari, represented by Janes Solicitors, had sought to appeal against the lower court verdict on eight grounds, three of which were granted in a court order by Justice Robert Jay last October and four others were approved during this week’s hearing.

“Grounds 3, 4 and 5 raise serious arguments which are worthy of consideration by the full Court. The further evidence will be considered at the substantive hearing de bene esse, without prejudice to the Respondent’s (government of India) case that it is not decisive,” reads Justice Jay’s order from last year.

Besides these grounds, which cover issues of human rights under Article 3 of the European Convention, reversed burden of truth and delays in system, Justice Saini further granted permission to appeal under grounds 1, 2 and 6 – which he said is relevant to ground 5 as it deals with the prospect of lengthy pre-trial detention in an Indian prison ahead of an extradition hearing.

The basis for the appeal was that the District Judge had “erred in his conclusions” that the offences were extradition offences and a prima facie case had been established against Bhandari.

“He [Snow] erred in both his conclusions that the conduct would constitute offences in this jurisdiction, and that there is admissible evidence to establish a prima facie case for each offence,” note Bhandari’s barristers Edward Fitzgerald and James Stansfeld.

The government of India, represented by barrister Alex du Sautoy for the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), had argued there was “no merit in any of the renewed grounds of appeal and permission ought to be refused”.

The case concerns two extradition requests from the Indian authorities, the first concerning an allegation of money laundering, contrary to Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 in India. The second request concerns an allegation of wilfully attempting to evade a tax, penalty or interest chargeable or imposable under the Black Money Act 2015 contrary to Section 51 of that act in India.

Bhandari, who was resident in India for tax purposes at the time in 2015, is accused of concealing overseas assets, using backdated documents, benefiting from the assets not declared to the Indian tax authorities and then falsely informing the authorities that he did not possess any overseas assets. He denies the allegations against him and has been fighting his extradition since the first request was certified by the UK Home Office in June 2020.

The CPS, on behalf of the Indian authorities, has argued that Bhandari’s conduct amounts to “fraud by false representation” in the British jurisdiction which will now be subject to a High Court challenge.

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MP warns of ‘explosion’ in unreported Islamophobia

A recent poll conducted by Hope Not Hate revealed that 58 percent of Conservative Party members believe Islam to be a threat to the British way of life…reports Asian Lite News

A senior politician has warned of an “explosion” of unreported Islamophobia in the UK. Shadow Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “In my constituency, people report it to me but not the police. They kind of just put it down to the price you pay for being a Muslim in this country, (but) reporting is then what drives police policy, social policy and potential legislation. We all have a role to play.”

Mahmood was speaking at a panel discussion after a screening of the film “HIJABI” by award-winning documentary-maker Samir Mehanovic.

The film, released to coincide with International Women’s Day and International Day to Combat Islamophobia, documents the lives of five British women and their experiences with Islamophobia, including one forced to flee the UK after she was assaulted.

Mahmood said: “Islamophobia has passed the dinner party test — it’s seen as acceptable. This is not just a Muslim problem, it should be addressed by all of society.”

The UK has witnessed a 365 percent surge in anti-Muslim hate incidents since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

According to Tell Mama, an organization dedicated to fighting Islamophobia, 65 percent of all incidents target women, with those who wear a hijab or niqab especially vulnerable.

Afzal Khan, an MP with the main opposition Labour Party, told the panel: “With Islamophobic hate crime having trebled since October and senior members of the Conservative Party spouting Islamophobia through the media in recent weeks, there has never been a more pressing time to listen to the testimonies of visibly Muslim women in Britain.”

MP Lee Anderson, former deputy chair of the Conservatives, was suspended by the party last month for refusing to apologize for claiming that Islamists had “got control” of London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

A recent poll conducted by Hope Not Hate revealed that 58 percent of Conservative Party members believe Islam to be a threat to the British way of life.

A government spokesperson told The Independent: “British Muslim women make a huge contribution to the United Kingdom and in strengthening the ties that bind our country together.

“It is unacceptable for anyone to feel unsafe while practicing their religion and we take a zero-tolerance approach to anti-Muslim hatred.

“We expect the police to fully investigate all hate crimes and work with the Crown Prosecution Service to make sure the cowards who commit these abhorrent offences feel the full force of the law.”

Former Labour councillor Shaista Aziz, who resigned from the party over the leadership’s position on Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza, told the panel: “When it comes to Islamophobia, there’s rightly lots of focus on the government and what they are doing and not doing. There’s no focus though on the man who wants to become the next leader of this country: Keir Starmer.

“Labour can talk about equalities until the cows come home. However, the proof is there: anti-Black racism, Islamophobia and a hierarchy of racism.” She added: “These things cannot be brushed under the carpet.”

A recent poll by the Labour Muslim Network reported that the party’s support within the UK’s Muslim community had dropped from 86 percent at the time of the last general election in 2019 to around 60 percent, with many citing Gaza as the reason.

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UK govt warned new extremism definition will ‘vilify’ Muslims

A spokesperson for the five groups said in a statement: “This new extremism definition is a solution looking for a problem. It attacks one of the cherished cornerstones of our pluralistic democracy — that of free speech…reports Asian Lite News

Muslim groups in the UK have warned the government that its plans to redefine extremism will stoke division and “vilify the wrong people.”

The government revealed proposals on Thursday to update legislation that currently defines extremism as “vocal or active opposition to British values.”

The new definition will add that it includes “promotion or advancement of ideology based on hatred, intolerance or violence or undermining or overturning the rights or freedoms of others, or of undermining democracy itself.”

Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove, the architect of the new definition, warned in a statement earlier this month that pro-Palestine marches in London “have been organised by extremist organisations.”

CAGE International, Friends of Al-Aqsa, the Muslim Association of Britain, Muslim Engagement and Development, and 5Pillars said the proposals are “an attack on civil liberties” that target “law-abiding individuals and groups that oppose government policy by labelling them as ‘extremist.’”

A spokesperson for the five groups said in a statement: “This new extremism definition is a solution looking for a problem. It attacks one of the cherished cornerstones of our pluralistic democracy — that of free speech.

“Anyone, regardless of faith or political colour should be free to criticise the government of the day without being labelled as ‘extremist.’”

Earlier this week, the archbishops of Canterbury and York said the plans could “disproportionately” target British Muslim communities.

ALSO READ-UK begins post-Brexit trade talks with Turkey

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UK begins post-Brexit trade talks with Turkey

Kemi Badenoch, the UK trade secretary, said Turkey was an “important economic and strategic partner” and that a trade deal could help boost exports of British services…reports Asian Lite News

The UK and Turkey have started talks about a post-Brexit free trade agreement targeting the service sector of the economy.

The UK government said there were “huge opportunities” for British businesses in exporting to Turkey, as one of the fastest-growing economies in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development group of nations, with trade between the two countries worth £26bn in 2022.

Ministers had announced in July last year their intention to hold trade talks with Turkey, and last November began months of consultation with businesses and trade groups over the UK’s priorities for an agreement.

The government said UK businesses including Deloitte, Diageo and Vodafone had helped to shape negotiation objectives through a public call for input, before the first round of detailed discussions scheduled for the summer.

The talks come at a delicate moment in ties between Turkey and western governments after the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who holds warmer relations with Russia than other Nato member states, held up the progress of Sweden’s membership until his government granted its backing in January.

Kemi Badenoch, the UK trade secretary, said Turkey was an “important economic and strategic partner” and that a trade deal could help boost exports of British services.

Badenoch launched the talks in London on Thursday alongside her Turkish counterpart, Ömer Bolat.

A deal could also give British consumers improved choice and better access to imported Turkish goods such as nuts, bulgar wheat and tomatoes, the government said.

Britain already has a trade deal with Turkey, which was rolled over after Brexit in a continuity agreement to minimise disruption. Before leaving the EU, the UK benefited from trading with Turkey through an EU-Turkey customs union.

Turkey had launched membership talks with the EU in 2005, but the accession process and efforts to expand its customs deal have since stalled amid concerns in EU capitals over the gradual erosion of democracy under Erdoğan.

While Turkey’s economy has grown at a rapid pace over Erdoğan’s 20 years in power, it has also been rocked by successive crises, including bouts of galloping inflation and crashes in the Turkish lira triggered by the president’s unorthodox stance on economic policy.

The UK government said Turkey presented significant opportunities for British businesses, including in transport, engineering, financial services, manufacturing and tech, driven in part by the country’s decarbonisation efforts and significant investment in rail.

It said the deal would focus on the UK’s strengths in services, which make up 80% of GDP, while highlighting that in 2020 there were 57,000 UK jobs supported by exports to Turkey, of which 68% were in services.

“An upgraded deal will give the UK’s world-leading services sector a competitive edge in this growing market and has the potential to support jobs across the UK,” Badenoch said.

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