Trade experts have poured cold water on the idea that Britain could invoke an obscure clause in the international trade rules if it leaves the European Union without an agreement, but they say the claim keeps resurfacing to justify a no-deal Brexit.
Tory Brexiteers' claim that WTO rules let them pull a rabbit out of the hat is pure magical thinking
02/09/2019
Does the World Trade Organization (WTO) have a magic legal provision, one that Britain can use to get out of the “no-deal” Brexit jail?
An NHS sell-off, lower food standards and secretive corporate courts: the battles facing Britain's new trade secretary
26/07/2019
Boris Johnson’s new trade secretary will be tasked with negotiating as many new trade deals as possible. Here are some fault-lines expected to emerge over the coming months.
What is GATT 24: What is the WTO clause at the centre of Andrew Neil's grilling of Boris Johnson
13/07/2019
Johnson, frontrunner in Tory leadership race, admitted he 'did not know' detail of WTO rule he planned to invoke.
“Jumping from league one to league three”: WTO insiders’ scathing assessments of a WTO Brexit
08/07/2019
Plus: the director general contradicts claims that “Gatt 24” would kick in to help. / “If there is no agreement, then Article XXIV would not apply, and the standard WTO terms would,” said Azevêdo.
Tory leadership hopeful is wrong to suggest UK could have tariff-free trade with the EU following a no-deal Brexit, says international body’s chief.
Why One Brexit Trade Myth Refuses to Die
28/06/2019
For supporters of Boris Johnson, it’s doubly useful to pretend that international trade rules offer a free pass to a painless Brexit.
Trade minister rejected Boris Johnson’s claim exporters would be spared tariffs after no deal
Boris Johnson’s ‘implementation period’ and five other Tory leadership Brexit plans already rejected or doomed to fail
25/06/2019
What are the Brexit proposals put forward - and why will they probably be rejected?
Either Boris Johnson is trying to bamboozle the public with jargon or he just doesn’t get the basics of how global trade works. Both are bad omens for the man who is likely to be our next prime minister and tasked with navigating a way through the Brexit mess.
The Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, has said that the UK would be hit automatically by tariffs on exports to the EU in a no-deal Brexit, rejecting a claim made by Boris Johnson that this could be avoided.
Supporters of Brexit are “completely wrong” if they think recourse to an obscure trade rule will stop tariffs springing up overnight if Britain leaves the European Union without a deal, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said on Friday.
Britain leaving the EU with no deal would be "extremely bad" for both parties, the former head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has said.