Tim Martin declares the UK’s EU departure will be easy
Multimillionaire Brexiteer Tim Martin declared David Davis has an easy option to make by either opting for World Trade Organisation rules or striking free trade agreements with the 27 other EU member states. Mr Martin, the founder of the JD Wetherspoon pub chain, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it was wrong to consider the negotiations with Brussels as the “most difficult” or “complex” faced by the United Kingdom in years. He said the discussions could be summed up in one simple sentence: “World Trade Organisation rules.” “It is the way we deal with most of the world – we’ve got a big trade surplus with America," the Brexit campaigner continued.
GETTY JD Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin believes the Brexit negotiations can be straightforward
We’ll make more money under World Trade Organisation rules because we will benefit from the tariffs Tim Martin
Moving on to discuss the Brexit Secretary’s role, Mr Martin said Mr Davis has a straightforward decision to make between WTO rules or free trade agreements, while taking a swipe at former PM David Cameron. “All David Davis needs to say is, ‘listen, guys, free trade or World Trade Organisation rules?’" he added. “I don’t mind. We’ll make more money under World Trade Organisation rules because we will benefit from the tariffs. “What you’ve got to be prepared to do is walk away – and it is perfectly clear that Cameron’s big error, in being a naive sort of guy thinking we could do it through a PR stunt, was he wasn’t prepared to walk away.”
GETTY Mr Martin suggested following WTO rules would earn Britain more
Meanwhile the former Work And Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, has admitted “no-one knows” how negotiations will pan out after Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty is triggered, but remains confident it will be in the EU’s interests to come to an agreement with Britain. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, the former Tory leader said: “The simple answer is, ‘of course we don’t [know how negotiations will pan out]’, but the reality is that the debate here in the UK about this has been ludicrously one-sided. “As though the UK has to figure out what it wants and go in and say ‘this is what we want to get’. “The answer is there’s another ground over there called, ‘all those countries that want to decide what they want’, and the trick here is to figure out what’s in the best interests of both sides to be able to operate and trade eventually and what agreements they come to must be based around access and fair trade.
“That’s really where the UK and Europe really need to want to head for.” His opinion was echoed by Rachel Anderson, a leading British football agent, who claimed Theresa May and her team will be left in stronger position if they listen to the desires of the other member states. Speaking alongside Mr Martin on Monday, she said: “You have to spend some time listening, and I believe that the most important thing in negotiation is to listen to the other side.
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