UK Should Be Able to Trade With EU on Same Conditions – UKIP Founder

But Is a no deal Brexit inevitable, or can Prime Minister Theresa May's amended deal addressing the Irish backstop issue be approved by the EU and subsequently the British parliament? Sputnik spoke with Alan Sked, founder of UKIP for more…

Sputnik: Why is the government so reluctant to go with a no deal Brexit and revert to WTO rules?

Alan Sked: The government wants a deal and Mrs May thinks that she's got one, that if it's adjusted a little bit with the Irish backstop, she thinks that would be preferable, and no deal might lead to unexpected economic hardship, nobody is absolutely sure what the consequences of a no deal would be.

I'm not sure that the various government agencies are quite prepared or ready for it yet, so she would much prefer to have a deal with the EU all signed up, which would mean that borders and trade would be ready, and that there would be agreements rather than confusion.

In any case, she has a deal, and she thinks that if only the Irish backstop can be changed then that the House of Commons would actually back her, and vote for this deal, so that's her preference.

READ MORE: Hammond Expects UK Businesses to Rise in Growing Economies Beyond Post-Brexit EU

Sputnik: Would a no deal Brexit be as bad as many fear?

Alan Sked: We trade with many parts of the world on WTO rules already, so we should be able to trade with the EU on the same conditions without any difficulty.
It would also mean that we may not have to pay the thirty-nine billion that we promised to pay to the EU.

If we don't have a deal we could keep that money and we wouldn't have to pay fifteen billion a year to the EU in the future, so we'd save a great deal of money, and of course we would be in a position to get rid of the EU external tariffs, so we should be able to get food and clothing from other parts of the world much more cheaply, so we'd save money there again.

There's a case for saying that we would save a lot of money, we could spend money on Britain, we could either use the money to help poor people in Britain, cut taxes or invest in infrastructure.

Views and opinions, expressed in the article are those of Alan Sked and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik