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Brexit Party Chairman Richard Tice insisted Boris Johnson needed to ensure his Brexit plan B is ready in the event trade talks with the EU don’t progress. During an interview with Express.co.uk, Mr Tice argued Brexiteers have long been saying the UK must be prepared to cut ties with the EU without an agreement. He added if the talks do not progress further during June, the UK should be prepared to get up from the trade talk table and focus on preparing for WTO trade rules.

Mr Tice said: “It is always important to have a plan B.

“That means being prepared to walk away and have arrangements in place so that you can continue to succeed in a plan B scenario.

“We have always said, us Brexiteers, that a sensible free trade deal with the EU is our preferred option but it is not our only option.

“We are quite prepared to adopt the sort of arrangements Canada had under the umbrella of World Trade Organisation rules.

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“We have got to be ready and be able to adapt to that.”

Mr Tice also explained the advice he would give to Boris Johnson and the Brexit negotiation team at this stage in the talks.

He said: “We should say to the EU, if we haven’t made progress by now, by June time, we should stop the talks.

“We should say, that it is not going to happen and that is fine.

“Everybody knows we are going to operate under the Australian time World Trade Organisation rules and we get organised.”

Mr Tice also warned that Boris Johnson had to ensure he adequately dealt with the coronavirus crisis or risk losing future Brexit benefits. 

He claimed the UK would suffer economically due to the virus but also see a reduction in foreign investment if confidence is shaken.

He said: “The Government needs to go through a metamorphosis to turn the woefully incompetent into people who make fast and smart decisions.

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“This is so we get back to a high economic growth rate despite the crisis.

“What I really worry about certain things as a businessman, as someone in the entrepreneurial area and someone who can understand what goes through investors minds.

“With global investors and multinationals, they will look at the UK and ask is that really a good place to continue our investments and invest more money.

“This is given the sort of way the country is run, given the bizarre decisions that this supposedly pro-business Government is making.”

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