Liz Truss said she does not believe Britain will begin negotiations for a US trade deal for a number of years. In a comment made as she touched down in New York on September 20 she said there was no prospect of such talks in the ‘short or medium term’.

The comments on the US trade deal will be seen as a huge disappointment for many Brexit supporters, who believed leaving the European Union would open the door to a series of lucrative global trade deals. To be fair, we have negotiated two - Australia and New Zealand, which represent about one per cent of UK trade. The rest have been simply rolled-over deals we already had as members of the EU - on worse terms.

Some US figures have suggested Washington will not countenance a trade deal with the UK if we tear up the Northern Ireland Protocol, part of the Brexit agreement.

In other figures it has been reported that business investment into the UK is now the lowest of the G7 nations.

How much damage must be done before the Government admit Brexit was a mistake and apply to rejoin the EU?

Tony Taylor, Woodthorpe, York