Hard brexit? Not as bad as some would have you believe.

So, what is hard Brexit?  It’s a term thrown around a lot by people like Scotland’s First Minister.  The word "hard" makes it all sound rather uncomfortable.   

But where is the evidence behind the rhetoric?  Well for a start, when we leave the EU we will still be trading with rEU.  To put it simply all that will happen is, assuming there is no agreement with rEU, we will do exactly what the rest of the world does when trading with the EU, use WTO rules.  Why wouldn’t we be doing the same?   

So those who say we will fall off a cliff are talking palpable nonsense.  One even said we would fall into the clutches of the WTO.  Really, the clutches?   

Now some people conjure up ideas that WTO rules are somehow bad or at least not good.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  They are a set of rules matured and developed over time for global trade.  And we should know, we virtually wrote the rules!  And we should also know because our trade outside the EU is under WTO rules.  China, USA, India, Brazil, Singapore.  

Some basic numbers to help us here.  About 44% of UK exports in goods and services went to other countries in the EU in 2016 £240 billion out of £550 billion total exports.  So 56% of our trade already is on WTO.  And I don’t hear many businesses complaining.   

There really are only two categories for those who talk about hard brexit with cliff edges and falling into the clutches.  They are either genuine ignorant of world trade or they are of malicious intent and don't want negotiations to succeed.

If it’s the former we can forgive them, though they need to get learning about international trade quickly.  If it’s the latter, well, you decide whose side they are on in this negotiation with rEU.