James O'Brien Hears Why Trading On WTO Rules Would Be A Disaster
6 August 2018, 12:55
An anti-Brexit campaigner has explained to James O'Brien exactly what would happen if Britain crashed out of the European Union without a deal.
Yesterday, International Trade Minister Liam Fox admitted it is 60% likely that Britain faces a no-deal Brexit.
That would leave us trading solely on World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules - something that only one country in the world does - Mauritania.
James, speaking to transport expert Graham Hughes, asked what the problem is of trading on WTO rules, as 80% of the world do and Graham responded: "Yes, but 80% of the world is poor.
"There are 55 countries in Africa. The GDP of all of those countries - including gold in South Africa, diamonds in Botswana, oil in Angola - put together is half the GDP of France.
"What are we going to sell them? We only make luxury goods and services for affluent people. There's not a farmer in Chad which really needs financial services from someone in Canary Wharf."
The government has admitted that the UK economy will take a hit post-Brexit, meaning that we need to increase trade with the rest of the world.
And he warns that the countries we could trade with are all a long way away, making it difficult to export goods.
"I've travelled the world on cargo ships. I know how long it takes to get to places and you wouldn't believe the amount of fuel they burn up."
