Thread by @JJHTweets

'yeah but if we leave the EU we can negotiate even better trade deals than the ones the EU did... we dont need to use the 34 EU deals with blocs and bilaterals that cover 60 other countries, we can do that all ourselves. Look @theresa_may is in Africa doing just that" say the..

2/ Brexiteers. oh man! You must've heard that by now? Guess what? Thats not true either. the #FACT is that these international trade agreements usually contain specific clauses that say something along the lines of "this is what is agreed, but if you agree something better

3/ with another country after we sign this then you have to give us the same level of benefits you give the new one" ... worded by a very expensive lawyer usually but you get the gist. What this clause means is that the very BEST the UK can get in trade deals is exactly what we

4/ already have. So why waste all that money and time to get what we already had and is actually likely to be an even WORSE deal than we have as an EU member. Let me give you an example: Section 4 on page EU/JP/en 23 of the EU-Japan Treaty says:

5/ S4. Where a Party grants a larger or faster tariff reduction, higher quota or any other more favourable treatment than that provided for under this Agreement to a third country based on an international agreement for goods covered by paragraph 3 which affects the

6/ the balance in the European Unions or Japan's market of such goods, the Parties shall, with a view to ensuring that the other Party obtains at least the same preference, commence such a review within three months of the date of entry into force of the international agreement

7/ between the European Union and that third country or between Japan and that third country, and will conduct the review with the aim of concluding it within six months of the same date.

In other words, even if it was somehow permitted under the EU-Japan treaty for Japan to

8/ give the UK a bilateral deal with more favourable treatment to the UK as a third country than under the existing EU-Japan treaty, Japan would then (within a strict timescale) be required to bring the EU-Japan agreement up to that same level. So ..

9/ under the clear terms of the existing EU-Japan treaty the UK can never get BETTER trade deals with the EU or Japan as a third country than it could have as an EU member under the existing EU-Japan trade deal, because if it did then Japan or

10/10 the EU would immediately have to bring their existing EU-Japan deal up to that same favourable level. So basically in simplistic terms Brexit is a complete waste of time and money and by the way it's almost guaranteed to cost you or someone you know their job. Great innit

@theresa_may @jonlis1 you might want some of this for preparing for a call with @talkRADIO or with @alexisconran

#lisaby not @isaby