Trading on WTO terms under a no-deal Brexit is pure fantasy – and this is why

Quite frankly, it isn’t feasible, and estimates suggest that trading on WTO terms would significantly damage the economy

 

Thursday 06 December 2018 02:11 GMT
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It seems utterly absurd that the prospect of the UK crashing out of the European Union without a deal and then trading with other nations on World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms is even being entertained.

Dominic Grieve’s amendment being passed shows there is no way MPs will ever let it get to that point and they are absolutely right not to. So let’s stop wasting time thinking about it as a viable option.

This week I spoke to Anand Menon, a professor of European politics and the director of The UK in a Changing Europe, and he described WTO rules as setting a “baseline”. WTO terms essentially work as the minimum you can’t go below but do not serve as a workable final destination.

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