Britain's trade gap with EU in January at highest level on record

Britain's trade gap with the European Union (EU) in January grew to the highest level on record, focusing attention on the UK's biggest economic partner as the Brexit debate hots up.

The UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Britain's trade deficit with the EU hit £8.1bn in the month, and £23bn in the three months to January. Both of these figures are the highest since the ONS began collecting this data in 1998.