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TEHRAN, Jul 14 - U.K. leadership front-runner Boris Johnson admitted that he did not know the full details of an international trade rule that he is proposing as a viable plan B for Brexit.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Johnson was grilled in a BBC interview about a measure he argues could help Britain’s economy cope if the country leaves the European Union without a deal in October.
He argued the U.K. could continue to trade tariff-free with the EU under Article 24 of the GATT -- but both the EU and the World Trade Organization have said it wouldn’t work in the event of a chaotic Brexit.
"How would you handle paragraph 5C?" the interviewer asked. Johnson responded: "I would confide entirely in paragraph 5B."
"Do you know what’s in 5C?" the interviewer asked. Johnson paused, before replying: "No."
Johnson is ahead in polls of grassroots Conservatives who will choose the next leader. The party’s members are overwhelmingly in favor of Brexit and regard Johnson as more likely to deliver on the referendum result of three years ago than his rival, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
But the interview on Friday highlights Johnson’s weak spot -- his critics say he’s bad on details and has made blunders when he was foreign secretary by not being well enough prepared.
The BBC’s Andrew Neil conducted twin interviews with the leadership rivals on Friday evening. During the exchanges:
Source: Bloomberg
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