Brexiteer Peter Bone has tried to defend the “upside” of a no-deal Brexit by ignoring a £145 billion financial black hole and suggesting only the price of “Mercedes cars and French wine” will go up.

Appearing on Sky News on Monday, the Tory MP insisted post-Brexit tariffs would provide a bonanza of spare cash that the government could use to “improve the economy of this country”.

He said: “One of the things people tend to forget is there’ll be more tariffs imposed on EU imports to us and we would pay on our exports. I think something like £13bn will be available for the government to use to cut taxes or support businesses. 

“And also, we’ll collect the £2.7bn that goes to the EU every year.”

What Bone didn’t mention was the projected £160bn hit to the economy in the event of a no-deal Brexit, more than ten times greater than the financial benefits he touted.

Pressed by host Adam Boulton to account for this deficit, Bone instead regaled the host with a recollection of his own time as a businessman when he… sold goods to the EU.

He said: “Well I was in business for years before I became an MP and I used to sell stuff all over the world to most of the EU and non-EU countries, trading on WTO rules or a free trade basis and it was no big problem.”

Boulton tried again, saying: “Yes but where is this surplus of cash that you believe is one of the benefits of Brexit going to come from?”

Flustered, Bone reverted back to the minimal savings he had already mentioned, saying: “If you’re charging tariffs, that goes to the government and you can use that.

“And the £2.7bn that is given to the EU will automatically come to us. So there is an upside, it’s not all down.”

Bone also appeared to suggest that the only things that would go up in price were luxury good and foreign wine, saying: “And on food prices, obviously we can lower the tariffs on stuff that’s coming in from outside the EU and making those prices cheaper.

“I was listening to one farmer yesterday who said food prices will fall.

“Yes, consumer prices on Mercedes cars will go up, yes French wine will go up…”

At this point, he was interrupted by Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh who pointed out that it was also basic foodstuffs that will go up in price.

“And on milk, and on vegetables and on bread and all the things people need in order to live,” she said.

Bone’s assertion that food prices will not be affected by Brexit are not supported by the evidence. 

The Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) has said if no trade deal is in place, retailers will struggle to insulate consumers from the impact of £3bn of new tariffs on food.

Undeterred, Bone then suggested Brits might get cheaper coffee after Brexit, saying: “If we decide to eliminate tariffs on say, coffee, then we can.”

But as McDonagh pointed out: “I’m not sure we’re much of a coffee exporter.”

Again, Bone’s claim about cheaper coffee is not supported by any evidence. A report by the British Coffee Association has said “tariffs on roasted coffee imported from the EU would be set at 7.5%, and tariffs on instant coffee set at 9%, which would add a massive cost on to the manufacturing and supply of UK coffee.”

It added: “The imposition of tariffs could even lead to reduced consumer choice of coffee varieties and brands on the market in the UK as it would make the environment impossible, for some of the smaller brands or European-based companies in particular, to play in.”

So did Bone say anything right? No. He even said there would be no disruption at UK ports despite the fact the disruption has already begun.

He said: “On the disruption to supply chains, I sit on the EU Select Committee and we’ve heard evidence both from the Port of Dover and the Port of Calais that there won’t be any disruption.”

He then suggested current queues at ports are only happening because we are still not fully out of the EU.

“We’re in the EU at the moment so the disruption now is because we’re in the EU and we’re not out yet. Well, we’re out of the EU but we’re in the transition period.”

Again, his is not supported by any evidence and the the government’s own experts in the leaked Whitehall Yellowhammer report predicted a three-month “meltdown” at ports and borders as both sides adjusted to new rules and regulations overnight.