BREXIT negotiations can seem complicated. What is best - a deal or no deal?

If Britain leaves the EU with no deal then our trade with Europe will revert to the terms agreed for worldwide trade known as the WTO (World Trade Organisation) rules.

The EU, under WTO rules, is a nasty place to export to. It has high tariffs and restrictive rules. However, once outside the EU, Britain is free to negotiate trade deals with all other non-EU countries such as China, USA, Australia, New Zealand, India, Canada and the fast growing Emerging Markets economies.

These deals are currently prohibited by the EU unless the whole of the EU has them.

The recent attempt by the EU to agree a deal with the USA was thwarted by one country that said no. This meant that the whole of the EU missed out on a trade deal with the USA.

For Britain, huge gains are potentially there for the taking once we leave the EU and many of these economies have already started negotiating with Britain ready for Brexit.

When it comes to the Brexit negotiations therefore it is common sense that the EU must offer Britain a better deal than WTO rules. If they don’t then we walk away.

Why take a deal that is worse than WTO rules when they can’t stop us from trading on WTO rules? Hence the phrase “No deal is better than a bad deal”.

Once the second largest financial contributor (Britain) leaves, the EU’s days are numbered. Germany will not shoulder the burden alone. The longer we wait for a deal, the weaker the EU gets.

Tony Taylor, Grassholme, Woodthorpe, York