The thoughts of our final two contributors

Ben Habib, CEO of First Property Group PLC

1. What are the great Brexit Britain wealth opportunities?

The most immediate and greatest wealth opportunities arise by leaving the tax levying restrictive cartel which favours German exports over all else. Once the UK has left it can take steps to correct the imbalance in trade caused by an artificially weak euro which underpins these exports and can thereby make itself more economically competitive.

2. How should we take advantage of them?

The most immediate and automatic saving will be the £12 billion (net) a year the UK currently pays the EU in tariffs collected, VAT and its GDP levy. In addition, we should levy tariffs at WTO rates on EU imports to balance the artificially depressed pound and reduce our trade deficit with the EU of some €100 billion per annum. The latter should yield some £13 bn in annual tariffs assuming trade levels immediately pre-Covid. Together these two steps alone would result in an additional £25 billion per annum for the UK. This is the immediate and quantifiable Brexit dividend.

This money should be used to fund some of the measures set out below and to compensate UK producers for tariffs the EU may levy. At WTO rates these would equate to some £5 bn per annum – very affordable.

Coupled with the above we must reduce VAT, reduce corporation tax, reduce green taxes and reduce regulations in the UK. This applies to business and to the financial sector (state aid laws, employment laws, environmental laws etc), so that the UK becomes economically fighting fit.

The EU fears a Singapore-on-Thames for good reason. This is why we must aim to be just that.

3. If the EU continue to be unreasonable in the trade talks, should we revoke the WA and walk? If so, when?

We should never have signed the WA. It achieved NOTHING for the UK other than land us with a large unquantified financial bill, the partitioning of Northern Ireland from Great Britain, and fixing the UK into the lunar orbit of the EU. It should be revoked at the earliest opportunity.

4. Contemplating our 31 December exit from the EU, what do you want from the Government?

From government we need an optimistic and bold no-deal business plan for the post-Brexit UK, picking up on the points I made above in answer to question 2. The government has done scant no-deal planning even though we are now more than half-way through the Transition Period and still at loggerheads with the EU over the basic structure (let alone details) of future arrangements. The best deal now for the UK is no-deal. That requires proper preparation and publication – there is so far none!

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Alastair MacMillan, Managing Director, White House Products Ltd

1. What are the great Brexit Britain wealth opportunities, from your perspective?

The main wealth opportunities will be the ability to regulate our own affairs, regulation suited to the UK way of doing business and the UK business profile. We can then ditch much of the rather catch-all, one size fits all regulation that has emanated from Brussels over recent years, a recent example of which being GDPR.

The ability to set our own trade policy is also a major part of this; a trade policy that is tailored to UK requirements and not again a one size fits all version, over which we have little control.

Trade agreements are often talked about and the ones we need to concentrate on are with the growing parts of the world. We have very healthy trade with the US already and I would not spend lots of time negotiating there but instead look at countries like Malaysia, Australia, NZ, and much of Africa. This will encourage a much more diverse trade policy than we have hitherto had and will also allow us to work on trade instead of aid policy for the poorest parts of the world. The aim should be to reduce costs through simplification, and removal of EU inspired "red tape" to allow diversity in of products and services to operate viably in the UK.

2. How should we take advantage of them?

We should take advantage of the opportunities around the world by looking to simplify trade procedures as well as reducing tariffs with those countries with which we negotiate trade agreements. This simplification and removal of bureaucracy in trade with (for example) many African countries would dramatically increase the volume of trade flows.

If you reduce a tariff but then insist on a requirement for a particular form to be completed and stamped by HMRC in order to take advantage of such and such tariff reduction, you will frequently find that any saving has been negated and the customer ends up paying over the odds for a product he has no choice of getting other than by importing it. As far as existing EU regulation goes, this needs to be repealed and only where absolutely necessary replaced.

3. If the EU continue to be unreasonable in the trade talks, should we revoke the WA and walk? If so, when?

Revoke the WA and walk. Definitely, and when? Now. Trade talks are getting nowhere because they are still trying to tie us into a framework agreement. The ECJ has no place in post-Brexit Britain. UK fishing grounds have been raped for over 40 years and it is time to give ownership of them back to their rightful owners. Yes, tariffs on our products would have some impact on our business but I believe it will be short term.

4. Contemplating our 31 December exit from the EU, what do you want from the Government?

I want the Government firstly to do one thing in particular and that is to work to minimise the bureaucracy of trade with the EU and elsewhere. I would like to see the simplification of customs procedures in both directions to prevent delay and reduce costs, which is vital. The air couriers have got it sorted out between here and the US so I am sure it can be done with other countries too and for other modes of transport. Secondly I want them to start repealing / replacing overly-complex and catch-all EU inspired law and regulation.