Trade with EU is a small portion of our economy

National flags flutter near the The Elizabeth Tower, commonly referred to as Big Ben, in central London 700062492

Remainers give the impression that if we leave the EU without a trade deal our economy will collapse.

But about 70 per cent of our economy is based on the financial sector, which is not part of our dealings with the EU. So a No Deal Brexit will affect only about 30 per cent of our economy, at a maximum.

And, of course, we do not trade only with the EU while we are members.

For instance we have a roughly £50 billion positive trade balance with the USA despite operating on EU terms for trade with other countries; these make our imports more costly than if we were trading under our own terms (to protect the least efficient EU producers). And of course the USA has only about 350 million population compared to about 435 million in the rest of the EU (we do not export to ourselves).

We also trade with many other countries under EU terms and I understand that they have been asked by Brussels to continue these contracts while new deals are negotiated.