No-deal Brexit won’t be ‘the end of the world’ says Head of World Trade Organisation, and trade WILL continue no matter what
Director General Roberto Azevedo said trade would continue and Britain could slash its tariffs to attract more investment from around the globe
A NO-DEAL Brexit would NOT be the end of the world and Britain would continue trading no matter what happens, the head of the World Trade Organisation has said.
Director General Roberto Azevedo said Britain could slash its tariffs to attract more investment from around the globe if it wanted to in the case that we didn't secure a deal with the bloc when we leave.
If Britain doesn't get a deal signed, it will fall back on WTO rules, on which most world trade is done.
He told Radio 4 today that Brexit with no-deal would "not be the end of the world" - but admitted it would "not be a walk in the park either".
Although he admitted that there could be some "barriers" on day one, trade would not stop next March, he vowed.
Some sectors would be more affected by tariffs than others, but if we left on WTO terms we would lower our rates to countries around the world to attract more business.
The director general of the WTO made the welcome intervention as the Brexit Secretary released more information on what could happen if there was no deal between the UK and EU.
Insisting that it would mean we would have full control over our laws, borders and money from day one, he explained that no-deal could help Britain become more competitive on the world stage.
But gloomy Chancellor Philip Hammond insisted that a no-deal Brexit would hit our economy.
Leave-backers blasted him for "trying to stop Brexit" again by claiming there would be "large fiscal consequences" of Brexit without a deal.
But today Mr Lidington threw his weight behind the Chancellor, saying the doom-ridden claims were "nothing new".
He told Radio 4: "This is provisional analysis that was released earlier this year, I think all Philip Hammond was doing was just referring to that in the response he published."
He added: "No deal is not a desirable objective, we set out how we were to mitigate this, were that to happen."
MOST READ IN POLITICS
But last night MP Jacob Rees-Mogg compared Mr Hammond to a dog returning to its vomit for repeating his gloomy claims.
He said: “The Treasury is desperate to stop Brexit. Everything the Treasury does has to be read in this light.
“As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.”
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online politics team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours