A customs union would still allow the UK to negotiate new trade deals covering large chunks of the economy – so it’s time for far more focus on how such deals affect our rights, and what say we have over them.

The minister’s promised trade agreements have mostly not materialised, and MPs are keen to rein him in before he caves to ‘America First’ interests.

When it comes to Brexit and trade deals, MPs only get a say at the last minute. Our outdated system of treaty scrutiny needs to change.

It’s not the EU that’s breaking the UK’s small fishing fleets, it’s the big industry players. And Brexit could make that worse.

From the outside, the Swedish snub to the Saudi royals looks like a big triumph for women’s rights over commercial pressures. Close up, the ethical picture is a little muddier.

Freedom of Information requests to disclose TPP texts have failed on the grounds that they are a matter of “national security”.

Ten years into the Look East policy, Zimbabwe is showing itself to be a not-so-satisfied customer of Chinese investment.

Afghanistan was not always the abyss it’s thought to be today. If it is to be stabilised, it needs to resume its position as a transit between its many neighbours. Washington, however, remains over-dependent on Pakistani routes to Afghanistan for fear of increasing Iranian influence and in so doing throws away the chance of Afghanistan's revival argues Neil Padukone.