Gatt 24: Adam Boulton challenges Tory MP Andrew Bridgen for using widely debunked argument to advocate for no-deal Brexit ‘What you’re saying is not true – there will have to be tariffs on day one’, he told the MP

Adam Boulton challenged Brexiteer Tory MP Andrew Bridgen during an interview for claiming the UK can use an obscure article of an international trade framework to mitigate the impact of a no-deal Brexit, which has been widely debunked by trade experts.



The MP, who is a member of the hardline European Research Group (ERG) of Tory MPs, claimed there was “no such thing as no-deal”, as a number of mini deals had been arranged, during an interview on Sky News on Friday.

He claimed the UK would be able to use Article 24 of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (Gatt) to prevent British businesses from facing tariffs on their imports and exports to the EU in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Gatt argument

Gatt is the precursor to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Brexiteers, including Tory leadership candidate Boris Johnson, have frequently said the UK could invoke Article 24 to keep zero-tariff trade flowing between the UK and EU.

Mr Bridgen, the MP for North West Leicestershire, said that: “The reason we have to leave without an agreement, is that the EU won’t talk about our future relationship until we’ve left, until we are a third party.

“We immediately then can offer them Article 24, under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which can in one-page agreement allow us to have tariff and quota-free trade.”

Presenter Adam Boulton said that this meant that his claim on the mini deals, which refers to the EU’s own no-deal planning of selective sector-specific areas were it will allow the continued flow of British goods, haulage and aviation, did not stack up.

‘That’s hypothetical’

Mr Bridgen claimed the the UK’s position that it would not impose checks on its borders meant the harm of no-deal was being overplayed. He said: “I think you need to take with a pinch of salt, a lot of the threats that have been made around the so-called no deal.”



But Mr Boulton replied: “So in other words, we’ll be waving through potential lorryloads of smuggled goods and illegal migrants.”

Mr Bridgen hit back, claiming: “There’s no more danger to the European Union goods that we will be importing then there was the day before we left the European Union.

“We will have full regulatory equivalence, and as everyone knows, Adam, to actually put extra checks in under WTO when there’s regulatory equivalence, and no reason for them, would be a non-tariff barrier and those are illegal under WTO rules.”

‘Not actually legally in place’

But the presenter challenged the MP again saying: “But if we’re under WTO rules, we won’t have full regulatory equivalence. I mean, again, that’s something your asserting, which is not actually legally in place.”

He asked the MP: “There are going to be some tariffs, aren’t there, on day one of no-deal Brexit?”

Mr Bridgen said the tariffs could be avoided if the EU accepts Gatt 24, claiming the EU sold the UK £100bn worth of goods more than the UK sold to the EU.

But the presenter replied: “You know perfectly well Gatt 24 has been raised and that is subject to agreement, which is not leaving without a deal.

“It is subject to having a trade framework in place, you know that so what you’re saying is not true. There will have to be tariffs on day one.”

’10 years of quota and tariff-free trade’

But Mr Bridgen refused to budge, saying: “We can sign a Gatt 24 article 24 agreement, the moment we leave the one-pager, we get 10 years of quota and tariff-free trade or we agree that detailed free trade agreement.”

Senior figures in British politics, economics and international trade have lined up to denounce the claims made by Brexiteers that Gatt 24 could be used in a no-deal scenario.

The clearest rebuke came from Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Roberto Azevêdo, who said in an interview with Prospect magazine: “Article 24 of the Gatt is simply the provision of global trade law under which free trade agreements and customs unions are concluded… If there is no agreement, then Article 24 would not apply, and the standard WTO terms would.”