UK’s Brexit minister says WTO rules scenario after EU exit unlikely

Britain is unlikely to end up in a situation where it fails to strike a deal on a new relationship with the European Union and comes under World Trade Organization rules when it exits the bloc, Brexit minister David Davis said on Tuesday.

“If you’re after a factual statement of what the outcome could be it’s I guess what is normally known as the World Trade Organization rules,” Davis told a parliamentary committee in response to questions about what would happen if Brexit talks with the EU were inconclusive.

“That’s what the conclusion is if we’re outside the union with no deal, but I would not want anybody to think that was in my view a likely outcome,” said Davis, whose formal title is Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union.