Recent votes in Parliament regarding Britain leaving the European Union.
I did not want us to leave the EU and indeed, campaigned locally and nationally against doing so. But I also stood as a Conservative candidate at two General Elections on a manifesto that promised to abide by the result. The Labour Party made similar pledges in their manifestos.
But my position on this is about what is best for the country not, as some people are suggesting, solely for the Conservative Party. I do not feel the country would be well served by holding a morally binding referendum and then ignoring the result. I give my reasons in detail elsewhere on the website
I would have preferred Britain to have left Europe with a deal on 29 March. However, I feel very strongly that leaving without a deal could be disastrous for this country, affecting every area of our lives.
If the Commons finds a way to support a deal, which I hope it will do, that allows the Government to seek a short technical extension to Article 50 to provide time to pass the necessary legislation and ratify the agreement we have reached with the EU. But while such a short extension is necessary, it is only likely to be on offer if we have a deal in place.
So, MPs have to accept that, if they are not willing to support a deal in the coming days, and are not willing to support leaving without a deal on 29 March, then they are suggesting that there will need to be a much longer extension to Article 50. Such an extension would undoubtedly require the United Kingdom to hold European Parliament elections in May 2019. I do not believe that would be the right outcome. But the options before the Commons are the same as they have always been:
- We could leave with the deal which this Government has negotiated over the past two years.
- We could leave with the deal we have negotiated but subject to a second referendum. But that would risk no Brexit at all, damaging the fragile trust between the British public and the members of the House.
- We could seek to negotiate a different deal. However, the EU have been clear that the deal on the table is indeed the only deal available.
The last two would in any event take a long time, causing further damage to the country, to business and industry.
Regarding suggestions that we should rely on the World Trade Organisation, following our departure from the EU, rather than on the Government’s deal, the Secretary of State has decided to replicate as far as possible our current commitments to the WTO. The Political Declaration on the UK and the EU's future relationship has also been agreed. Both sides have decided to create a free trade area that will mean no tariffs, fees, charges or quantitative restrictions for goods. This is a unique deal. No other advanced economy in the world has such a relationship with the EU. At the same time, we will be able to negotiate its own international trade deals from the start of the implementation period. This will allow us to take advantage of the estimated 90 per cent of world growth that will come from outside the EU in the future.
However, we should also bear in mind that the WTO is in some difficulty at the moment, dealing with factors including the USA’s trade war with China. America believes the WTO is biased against it and so it is vetoing new appointments, so the body is now down to three judges, the absolute minimum required. By the end of this year, two of them finish their term so the future looks very uncertain.