Reality Check: Have any countries said they are in favour of Britain leaving the EU?
- Published
The question: Dan asks BBC Radio 4's PM programme "Have any countries, trading blocs or other such entities publicly stated they are in favour of Britain leaving the EU?"
Reality Check verdict: A handful of politicians have said their countries would do trade deals with the UK should it vote to leave the EU, but we can't find any that have called for the UK to leave.
Staff at the European Council on Foreign Relations couldn't find any countries in favour of Britain leaving the EU.
"We looked pretty hard and we couldn't find a single government that supported a Brexit," Mark Leonard, its director, said.
Vote Leave, the pro-Brexit campaign group, didn't come up with any either.
It pointed out senior politicians from New Zealand, Iceland and Mexico had said their countries would seek a trade deal with the UK should it leave the EU. But none of them said they wanted the UK to leave the EU so they could increase trade.
It also cited Jason Keeney, a Canadian MP, who said Britain would already have a trade deal with Canada if it was outside the EU, although Justin Trudeau, Canada's prime minister, has only said he wants "a strong and united EU".
Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, said Britain would be better off outside the EU.
The UK has been a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) since 1995 and will remain so whatever the outcome. It isn't clear what other existing trade organisations the UK could join should it vote to leave.
The World Trade Organisation hasn't commented on the referendum but Pascal Lamy, its former director general, has said Brexit would be "very bad news" for the UK.
The most significant interventions have all come from those who want the UK to stay in the EU.
President Obama said the UK would be at the "back of the queue" for a trade deal with the US if it left the EU. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping of China have both suggested the UK should remain in too.
- Published13 May 2016
- Published4 May 2016
- Published9 May 2016
- Published22 February 2016