WTO chief says post-Brexit trade talks must start from scratch

Roberto Azevido says leave vote would present complex and unusual situation with UK unable to 'cut and paste' its former EU-negotiated trade deals

Negotiations about the shape of the UK's post-Brexit trade arrangements would have to start from scratch after a leave vote in the EU referendum, the head of the World Trade Organisation said as he admitted there had been no preliminary discussions with the UK government.

Roberto Azevido, the WTO director-general, said he expected any talks to be long and difficult, adding: "We haven't had any discussions about the process. We don't know what the process would be. We do know it would be a very unusual situation."