Liam Fox is in Tokyo today, visiting another wealthy island nation that does not see the need to enter into political and economic union with its authoritarian continental neighbour.

The International Trade Secretary is meeting Japanese PM Shinzō Abe, after Japan’s Trade Minister “welcomed” Britain’s bid to join the successor to the Trans Pacific Partnership, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership on Tuesday. The massive CPTPP Free Trade Area encompasses Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

This is the kind of Free Trade Area that the UK should be joining, unlike the EU it does not presume to legislate for its members, and nor does it prohibit members from making their own global trade deals.