UK's new government to restart trade talks with Turkiye and other partners

Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose Labour Party returned to government after 14 years in opposition following a landslide victory at a July 4 election, has made economic growth the central mission of his government.

Trade talks were paused during the election.

"Restarting talks is the first step towards agreeing the high-quality trade deals the UK needs to give businesses access to international markets, boost jobs and deliver that growth," the government said in a statement.

The trade department said the first round of negotiations under the new government were expected to take place in the autumn and would include fresh talks with Israel, South Korea, Switzerland and Turkiye.

Britain already has FTAs with those four countries which were rolled over when it left the European Union in 2020, but had previously launched talks aimed at updating the agreements.