BURLEY and Menston MP Philip Davies claims it would be "economic suicide" for the European Union if it didn't agree a free trade deal with the UK as part of Brexit.

He said any deal must not involve staying in the single market or accepting EU laws, but should allow trade to continue without tariffs.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Davies – who vehemently supported the Leave campaign – said: "Given that we have a massive trade deficit with the European Union, it would be economic suicide for the EU not to agree a free trade deal with us.

"But if they did go down that line, it has been calculated that British business would have to pay about £5 billion a year in tariffs on World Trade Organisation rules to access the EU market – and EU businesses would have to pay about £13 billion in tariffs to access the UK market.

"Given that, could we not agree to cover all tariffs for British business exporting to the EU so they do not have to pay anything and still be quids in?"

Jesse Norman, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, said: "Long experience has taught me to distrust some of these speculative estimates of cost and benefits, so I will not comment on that."