Tag: Brexit

May tells Sturgeon: “Listen to the voices”

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has urged Prime Minister Theresa May to change course to avoid an “utterly disastrous” no-deal Brexit if the Prime Minister’s plans are rejected by MPs in a crunch vote on 11 December – but Theresa May says the First Minister should listen to Scotland’s business leaders. Continue reading May tells Sturgeon: “Listen to the voices”

Brexit: May looks for public pressure to convince sceptical MPs

Downing Street has given forty reasons to back the Brexit deal:

  1. Free movement will come to an end, once and for all, with the introduction of a new skills-based immigration system.
  2. We will take back full control of our money which we will be able to spend on our priorities such as the NHS. We will leave EU regional funding programmes – with the UK deciding how we spend this money in the future.
  3. The jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in the UK will end.
  4. In the future we will make our own laws in our own Parliaments and Assemblies in Westminster, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.
  5. We will leave the Common Agricultural Policy.
  6. We will leave the Common Fisheries Policy and become an independent coastal state again, with control over our waters.
  7. We will be able to strike trade deals with other countries around the world. Deals can be negotiated and ratified during the implementation period and put in place straight afterwards.
  8. We will be an independent voice for free trade on the global stage, speaking for ourselves at the World Trade Organisation, for the first time in decades.
  9. We will be freed from the EU’s political commitment to ever closer union.
  10. We will be out of the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights, recognising the UK’s long track record in protecting human rights.
  11. A fair settlement of our financial obligations, which will be less than half what was originally predicted.
  12. Both the one million UK citizens living in the EU and the three million EU citizens living in the UK will have their rights legally guaranteed so they can carry on living their lives as before.
  13. We will have a free trade area with the EU, with no tariffs, fees, charges or quantitative restrictions across all sectors, helping to protect UK jobs. We will be the only major economy with such a relationship with the EU.
  14. We’ve agreed with the EU that we will be as ambitious as possible in easing the movement of goods between the UK and the EU as part of our free trade area.
  15. We will have an implementation period after we leave the EU during which trade will continue much as it does now. This will allow government, businesses and citizens time to prepare for our new relationship.
  16. The deal will see a greater reduction in barriers to trade in services than in any previous trade deal.
  17. There will be an agreement that means UK citizens can practice their profession in the EU.
  18. A comprehensive deal that secures access to the EU market for our financial services sector meaning the EU cannot withdraw it on a whim. This will provide stability and certainty for the industry.
  19. A best in class agreement on digital, helping to facilitate e-commerce and reduce unjustified barriers to trade by electronic means.
  20. We have agreed that there will be arrangements that will let data continue to flow freely, vital across our economy and for our shared security.
  21. Trade arrangements for gas and electricity will help to ease pressure on prices and keep supply secure.
  22. Strong rules will be in place to keep trade fair, so neither the UK nor EU can unfairly subsidise their industries against the other.
  23. We will have a comprehensive Air Transport Agreement and comparable access for freight operators, buses and coaches.
  24. We have agreed that there will be arrangements so we can take part in EU programmes like Horizon and Erasmus.
  25. There will be a co-operation agreement with Euratom, covering all the key areas where we want to collaborate.
  26. Visa-free travel to the EU for holidays and business trips will continue.
  27. Our new security partnership will mean sharing of data like DNA, passenger records and fingerprints to fight crime and terrorism, going beyond any previous agreement the EU has made with a third country.
  28. Our new security partnership will enable the efficient and swift surrender of suspected and wanted criminals.
  29. Close co-operation for our police forces and other law enforcement bodies.
  30. We will continue to work together on sanctions against those who violate international rules.
  31. We will work together on cyber-security threats and support international efforts to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
  32. Disputes between the UK and the EU on the agreement will be settled by an independent arbitrator, ensuring a fair outcome.
  33. We will meet our commitment to ensure that there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.
  34. We will keep the Common Travel Area between the United Kingdom and Ireland, ensuring everyday life continues as now.
  35. We will keep the Single Electricity Market between Northern Ireland and Ireland, which will help maintain a stable energy supply and keep prices down in Northern Ireland.
  36. Both sides will be legally committed, by the Withdrawal Agreement, to use “best endeavours” to get the future relationship in place by the end of the implementation period, helping to ensure the backstop is never used.
  37. An agreement to consider alternative arrangements to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, including all facilitative arrangements and technologies, and to begin preparatory work on this before we leave the EU, reflecting shared determination to replace the backstop.
  38. In the unlikely event we do have to use the backstop, a UK-wide customs area will ensure there is no customs border in the Irish Sea.
  39. Gibraltar’s British sovereignty will be protected.
  40. The deal delivers on the referendum result. It takes back control of our money, borders and laws whilst protecting jobs, security and the integrity of the United Kingdom.

Mrs May faces a Herculean task in trying to get her deal through parliament, however. Tory dissenters, Labour, SNP, the Lib Dems and even her allies the DUP are united in their opposition to the Brexit deal.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “This is a bad deal for the country.

“It is the result of a miserable failure of negotiation that leaves us with the worst of all worlds. It gives us less say over our future, and puts jobs and living standards at risk.

“That is why Labour will oppose this deal in parliament. We will work with others to block a no deal outcome, and ensure that Labour’s alternative plan for a sensible deal to bring the country together is on the table.

“That includes a permanent customs union with a UK say, a strong single market deal and guarantees on workers’ rights, consumer and environmental protections.”

The Commons vote is likely to take place on 12 December. And after that? Who knows?

Brexit: Theresa May makes appeal to the nation – get behind the deal

Prime Minister Theresa May has written a letter to the nation explaining why she thinks the public should back her EU Brexit deal. Here is the full letter:

“When I became your Prime Minister the United Kingdom had just voted to leave the European Union.

“From my first day in the job, I knew I had a clear mission before me – a duty to fulfil on your behalf: to honour the result of the referendum and secure a brighter future for our country by negotiating a good Brexit deal with the EU.

“Throughout the long and complex negotiations that have taken place over the last year and a half, I have never lost sight of that duty.

“Today, I am in Brussels with the firm intention of agreeing a Brexit deal with the leaders of the other 27 EU nations.

“It will be a deal that is in our national interest – one that works for our whole country and all of our people, whether you voted ‘Leave’ or ‘Remain’.
“It will honour the result of the referendum.

“We will take back control of our borders, by putting an end to the free movement of people once and for all.

“Instead of an immigration system based on where a person comes from, we will build one based on the skills and talents a person has to offer.

“We will take back control of our money, by putting an end to vast annual payments to the EU.

“Instead, we will be able to spend British taxpayers’ money on our own priorities, like the extra £394 million per week that we are investing in our long-term plan for the NHS.

“And we will take back control of our laws, by ending the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in the UK.

“In future, our laws will be made, interpreted and enforced by our own courts and legislatures.

“We will be out of EU programmes that do not work in our interests: out of the Common Agricultural Policy, that has failed our farmers, and out of the Common Fisheries Policy, that has failed our coastal communities.

“Instead, we will be able to design a system of agricultural support that works for us and we will be an independent coastal state once again, with full control over our waters.

“The deal also protects the things we value.

“EU citizens who have built their lives in the United Kingdom will have their rights protected, as will UK citizens living elsewhere in the EU.

“A free trade area will allow goods to flow easily across our borders, protecting the many skilled jobs right across the country that rely on integrated supply-chains.

“Because our European friends will always be our allies in the fight against terrorism and organised crime, the deal will ensure that security co-operation will continue, so we can keep our people safe.

“As Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, I have from day one been determined to deliver a Brexit deal that works for every part of our country – for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, for our Overseas Territories like Gibraltar, and also for the Crown Dependencies.

“This deal will do that.

“Crucially, it will protect the integrity of our United Kingdom and ensure that there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland – so people can live their lives as they do now.

“It is a deal for a brighter future, which enables us to seize the opportunities that lie ahead.

“Outside the EU, we will be able to sign new trade deals with other countries and open up new markets in the fastest-growing economies around the world.

“With Brexit settled, we will be able to focus our energies on the many other important issues facing us here at home: keeping our economy strong, and making sure every community shares in prosperity; securing our NHS for the future, giving every child a great start in life, and building the homes that families need; tackling the burning injustices that hold too many people back, and building a country for the future that truly works for everyone.

“On 29 March next year, the United Kingdom will leave the European Union.

“We will then begin a new chapter in our national life. I want that to be a moment of renewal and reconciliation for our whole country.

“It must mark the point when we put aside the labels of ‘Leave’ and ‘Remain’ for good and we come together again as one people.

“To do that we need to get on with Brexit now by getting behind this deal.

“Parliament will have the chance to do that in a few weeks’ time when it has a meaningful vote on the deal I hope to strike today.

“I will be campaigning with my heart and soul to win that vote and to deliver this Brexit deal, for the good of our United Kingdom and all of our people.”

The deal’s now been signed in Brussels, but there’s little chance of the deal getting the support of the UK Parliament.