Minister Attempts To Put Gloss On UK->EU Trade Figures

Cabinet Office Minister Lord Frost tweets a thread on the newly-released UK export figures, which show a significant slump in exports to the EU following the UK's exit from the single market and customs union on 31 Dec 2020:

• "I have been looking at today's trade numbers. This month's unique combination of factors made it inevitable that we would see some unusual figures this January. As @ONS has pointed out, caution should be applied when interpreting these statistics. Why? As well as changes to our trading relationship with the EU, we also saw: Evidence of stockpiling late last year (as @ONS note). This meant less need to move goods in January.
  Covid lockdowns across Europe bringing reduced demand for goods overall. These effects are starting to unwind. The latest information indicates that overall freight volumes between the UK and the EU have been back to their normal levels for over a month now, ie since the start of February...."