[Old Teufel Hunden]

"UK Leaders should have been busy negotiating new trade agreements with the US, China and others, etc rather than wasting time on thinking they were going to get anything reasonable out of the EU."

While still in the EU, no member can officially negotiate trade with any other countries. I'm sure that unofficially the Brits have been putting out feelers to countries like U.S. and China and have preliminary stuff going. However, any trade treaty with another country takes a long time to hammer out. Think of all the things that go into trade deals.

[HamiltonJay]

I know it takes a long time to hammer out, which is why they should have started negotiating the day after the vote. No nation can sign a separate agreement while part of the EU, but I don’t see how they can prevent conversations.