There's been a lot of talk about free trade in the Brexit debate, but what exactly is a free trade agreement and how does it differ from what the UK has had with the EU?

This article is going to try and explain lots of different things which all form part of the ‘what’s going on right now’ picture.

'It is hard to predict how full Brexit would play out, because this scale of multiple simultaneous renegotiations of global trade agreements is unprecedented – and no country has ever left the EU. It certainly can’t be assumed that Britain is bound to get quick and good deals because it is a large economy.'

If not, and the vote is to exit, it will be no good saying afterwards that “we didn’t understand what we were voting for” – the repeated complaint made by eurosceptics about the 1975 Referendum. By then it will be too late.

Putting politics aside, let us look at a more technical aspect of free trade negotiations – rules of origin (ROO).

It may be time for the UK to consider the possibility the German car industry might not be riding to the rescue.