[solarsailor]

I'd just like to comment on a few points already made before I give my own thoughts.

Originally Posted by macafee2

I thought people voted for Brexit so we could set about making our own laws and now having laws "forced" on us.

macafee2

This is a common misconception. Any regulation is put into law by the UK government and not the EU, as Brussels has no authority to 'impose' regulations on us - or any other EU country for that matter.

Originally Posted by Darcydog

......as a member of the EU we were forbidden to set up individual trade deals with other countries and trading nations.........

That is quite simply untrue, as the UK is allowed to trade with any country it chooses. However we do have to comply with EU (as well as WTO) regulations which, to try and simplify a complex issue, means that we can't negotiate a deal with a non-EU country which is more advantageous to us than it is to the other EU member states.

Originally Posted by planenut

Taxation, duties, and quotas exist which will need to be re-negotiated. We pay varied amount of duty dependent on the source of the product.

I think the OP is referring to trade within the EU. Any manufacturer or producer of goods has to pay the relevant taxes to its own government (e.g. VAT and any others that apply to a business). After that the goods can be sent to all other EU countries without the need to pay any additional duties or taxation - that's the whole point of the single market.

My own thoughts on the subject:

My best understanding is that in order to retain the current trade deals we have with the other member states after the UK leaves the EU, we'd need to stay in the single market. To be part of the single market would also require remaining in the customs union and continuing to allow free movement of EU nationals, which I personally believe would be the sensible option for the UK's future prosperity.

If we don't stay in the single market once outside of the EU (44% of our export market) it's likely that tariffs under MFN (most favoured nation) rules set out by the WTO would apply, meaning our exporters would become less price competitive and lose business. Likewise, WTO tariffs would be applied to goods we import from the EU - currenty 53% of our total imports - making them more expensive. It's my belief that the combination of both would lead to soaring prices due to runaway inflation. Three of the main policies to control inflation are high interest rates, increased taxation and wage control. Anyone fancy that?

Of course there will be supporters of a 'hard' Brexit, particularly in government, who will argue that if we dump the single market we'll be free to trade with China, the USA and a host of other countries under WTO rules without having to also comply with EU legislation. What they'll fail to mention is that such deals take years to negotiate, by which time the UK economy could (and probably would) be well and truly shafted.