BAD TIMING. Setting a new record isn’t always a good thing. UK exports and imports fell by around a fifth in January from the previous month, data showed on Friday. The main impetus for the groundbreaking declines was plunging trade with the European Union in the first month of new Brexit arrangements. Exports to the EU fell by 41% while imports from the bloc dropped by 29%. True, the numbers come with health warnings. For example, some stockpiling may have occurred before the EU exit transition period ended. And trade started picking up towards the end of January. Still, an Institute of Directors poll on Thursday showed nearly 20% of business leaders who trade with the EU had stopped doing so in January, with a narrow split between those who said the pause was temporary and those who said it was permanent. Brexit reverberations will complicate the UK economy’s post-pandemic recovery. (By Swaha Pattanaik)