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Election 2017: Theresa May to try and move campaign past police cuts and focus on Brexit

'The opportunities for our economy from Brexit are great, and I am determined the benefits of new jobs and prosperity will be spread equally across the United Kingdom'

Joe Watts
Political Editor
Monday 05 June 2017 22:26 BST
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Theresa May will promise new international trade commissioners
Theresa May will promise new international trade commissioners (Getty)

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Theresa May will try to push the final few days of the election campaign back onto Brexit, setting out measures to boost international trade.

The Prime Minister will put forward plans to set up a ‘board of trade’, whose members would lead delegations of business people from all regions of the UK across the world to hunt out new opportunities.

She will also highlight a promise for a new network of Trade Commissioners, whose job it will be to live and work in areas where the opportunities for new trade are greatest, promoting British products.

The election campaign has been dominated by security issues since the weekend’s terror attack in London, but with 48 hours to go till polling opens, Ms May’s pledges will seek to re-focus on her what she believes is her strongest suit.

She said: “The opportunities for our economy from Brexit are great, and I am determined the benefits of new jobs and prosperity will be spread equally across the United Kingdom – helping to build a stronger and more united country.”

Members of the trade board, first announced in the party’s manifesto, will be taken from leading figures from the world of politics and business.

They will be given a specific remit for boosting trade for firms in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as England.

The new HM Trade Commissioners will travel the world to promote British exports, seek inward investment and drive UK trade policy overseas.

The Conservatives are also pledging to a ‘shared prosperity fund’, to tackle disparities between regions of the UK, using money saved from cash currently given to the EU structural fund.

Ms May faced calls to resign from Mr Corbyn and former David Cameron aide Steve Hilton on Monday, for presiding over swinging police cuts since 2010, amid the fallout of the London Bridge terror attack.

Mr Corbyn said the Government had been warned repeatedly that cuts could damage the police's ability to tackle extremism.

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