UK, EU rush to ratify their free trade deal

LONDON - Leaders in Britain and the European Union are scrambling to persuade their national parliaments to ratify a historic deal due to come into effect at the start of the new year and designed to minimise the economic disruption created by Britain's decision to leave the EU.

The agreement struck on Christmas eve after the last-minute intervention of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, is the most significant single trade agreement Europe has ever contemplated, affecting a total of £660 billion (S$1.13 trillion) of yearly bilateral trade.