Brexit supporters hailed the benefits of Britain’s departure from the EU, but pointed to the work that remains to be done as Britain marks the third anniversary of its departure from the Union. On January 31, three years ago, then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson led the country out of Brussels after decades of membership and years of campaigning for the Cause.
The UK has entered an 11-month transition period, until the end of 2020, during which it remains bound by EU rules.
Today, three years after the official exit, Brexiteers listed the key victories made possible by leaving the EU, including the hugely successful deployment of the Covid vaccine, Britain’s essential support for the heartbroken Ukraine by the war in the face of the brutal invasion of Vladimir Putin, and the trade agreements concluded with countries all over the world.
But Leave-back supporters also pointed out that there was still much to be done, including sorting out the Northern Ireland protocol, which has been an ongoing source of tension, and cutting EU red tape.
Mark Francois, chairman of the powerful European Research Group (ERG) of pro-Brexit Conservative MPs, told l’Encause: “Our exit from the EU has brought many benefits, including one of the most world, the ability to conduct our own foreign policy towards Ukraine and our own trade policy, with more than 70 new trade agreements, including with Commonwealth allies such as Australia and New -Zealand.
“In addition, more than 7,000 new laws, directives and regulations have been adopted by the EU since we left, to which Britain is no longer subject.
“However, the biggest advantage is that we now control our own destiny. Throughout this debate, I’ve never quite understood why some people want us not to run our own country – but to have it run by someone else instead. »
Conservative David Jones, vice-chairman of the ERG, added: “Obviously the main benefit of Brexit so far is that we are an independent country.
“We are a sovereign country, we make our own laws for the benefit of our own people and we are not subject to a system where laws are agreed behind closed doors. In other words, we have restored our democracy and that is the most important feature.
“I think what we need to do is get rid of the Northern Ireland protocol, which is the last leg of Brexit. We must ensure that Northern Ireland regains full status. »
Mr Jones highlighted the prospect of the UK joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade deal.
He said, “I think we also need to push for CPTPP membership. We want to continue down this path and make sure we get it.
“These are the fastest growing economies in the world and we also want India and the United States to join – it would be a massive free trade area.
“There are a lot of things to look forward to, we have only just started. We are living in a period of revolution, three years in a revolution is not very long. We have already obtained many things, but there are still many more to obtain.
“And I think when we look at the 10th anniversary, we will see that the UK is a very dynamic economy. It is EU free. It has free trade agreements with countries around the world.
“We will be under less bureaucratic regulation from the EU and I think generally there will be a huge sense of relief that we have not followed the path taken by the EU. »
Tory MP Michael Fabricator
Tory MP Michael Fabricator highlighted how the pandemic has impacted the capture of benefits, but urged the government to make up for lost time by cutting red tape to gain a competitive advantage over Brussels.
He said: “Covid has understandably distracted the government from taking full advantage of Brexit.
“We need to catch up by making the UK the most competitive nation in Europe and weeding out unnecessary regulations. »
Former Conservative cabinet minister and ex-Brexit party MP Ann Widdecombe said: “First of all we need to fix the Northern Ireland problem, which we haven’t.
“Secondly, we need to get rid of EU laws that are still in our legislation, which we haven’t done.
“Third, we need to get rid of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in our cases, which we haven’t done. »
Moving on to the benefits, she continues, “We negotiated some pretty good trade deals. And if you look at the figures, our food exports have increased very strongly, which is a plus.
“The legal immigration control has certainly been a big benefit, because now we can tell who is coming here, under what conditions, if they can get benefits, all that kind of stuff. We weren’t able to do that before.
“So there were benefits, but the real big benefit that we all wanted from Brexit was that we would become competitive. We would become, to use that terrible expression, Singapore on the Thames and we would become a hive of business, and our tax system has made that impossible.
“The biggest benefit was the return of our own sovereignty. But we’ve thrown away the greatest economic benefit by moving to a high-tax economy. No one will want to come here and invest in a high-tax economy. »
With regard to legislation for a bonfire of EU laws that cleared the final Commons hurdle earlier this month and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s speech last week outlining plans to scrap the EU’s Solvency II directive in order to unlock up to £100bn of private investment, Ms Widdecombe added: “I’m tired of hearing talk, I want to see action.
“I’m not interested in talk anymore about what we’re going to do, I want to see us do it.”
This article is originally published on encause.fr
