Figures released by the Department for International Trade late last week showed that 217 trade barriers were removed during 2020-21. This was an increase of almost 20 percent on the previous year.

       The barriers were removed across 74 different countries, shedding light on Britain’s post-Brexit trade potential.

       Nile Gardiner, a foreign policy analyst and former aide to Margaret Thatcher, hailed the news as a cause for celebration.

       In a post on Twitter, he wrote: “Brexit Britain will be a world leader in free trade.”

       Marco Longhi MP added that bulldozing barriers to trade is “great news”.

       He wrote: “By boosting trade around the world, Boris Johnson and the Conservatives are backing British business to create jobs here at home.”

       International Trade Minister Ranil Jayawardena noted that the good news does not stop there.

       He highlighted that in the same period, trade deals have been agreed with 70 countries, as well as the EU.

       These are collectively worth ￡766billion – a major boost to Britain’s economy.

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       Following years of negative coverage on the country’s potential outside of the EU, Mr Jayawardena wrote: “No other nation has secured so many trade deals with so many of its counterparts in such a short space of time.”

       He joked: “So much for the doubters, doomsters and gloomsters.”

       He added that “this is just the beginning”.

       Mr Gardiner has also celebrated the news that Japanese car producer Nissan plans to use its factory in Sunderland as a blueprint for a ￡13billion push to increase its output of electric cars.

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       He described this as “a huge vote of confidence in Brexit Britain from Japan”.

       This comes after a survey released late last month showed that most high-net-worth individuals in the UK believe London will continue to be the financial capital of Europe over the next decade.

       80 percent of respondents also said they felt confident about the future of Britain’s economy, while 33 percent felt “very confident”.

       Mr Jayawardena said that the latest developments pave the way for Britain joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) free-trade area.

       There are currently 11 countries in the partnership with a combined GDP of well over ￡8trillion last year.

       Mr Jayawardena wrote:This Indo-Pacific tilt will hitch us to a fast-growing, dynamic region that we could do so much more with.”