If you thought that Brexit had been done and dusted, you would be wrong. Whilst we have already technically left the European Union, we are still roped into it in so many different ways. We are still accepting new EU rules and are paying for the privilege.
Leaving the EU was always going to be a messy business but, if we want to respect democracy and the British electorate, then it must be completed in a way that is consistent with Britain being an independent sovereign State. We knew that the Withdrawal Agreement was a long way from being perfect and we knew that we would have a hard round of negotiations ahead of us. As we approach the negotiation deadline at the end of October we should not be surprised that the EU is being tough in looking after the interests of the French and Germans.
Fortunately, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, is being just as tough in fighting for us to have a good deal with the EU or we will take the no deal option. He managed to get rid of the damaging ‘Northern Ireland backstop’ which could have trapped us in a limbo between being a member and having left for many years to come.
The EU are again using Northern Ireland against the British people. Superficially, this is about State aid and fishing rights in British coastal waters but it is far deeper than that. The EU are using Northern Ireland as a wedge that could then lead to them being able to dominate Britain on a whole range of other important matters.
A goal of the EU negotiators is to ensure that Britain loses any advantage from leaving the EU and the damage that they will inflict upon us will then be used as a threat to any other country who may think of leaving.
We should not succumb to their tactics and the Prime Minister is going to make sure that, when they are negotiating in bad faith, that he is gong to use all of our laws and agreements to defend our position and our national interest. This is about British jobs and the future of the next generation and it should not be sacrificed on the altar of political convenience.
When I backed the Withdrawal Agreement it was with the understanding that it would be part of an ongoing negotiation but we get the impression from some British politicians that we can only negotiate in a way that the EU tolerates. Labour and their leader are following Tony Blair in demanding that Britain kowtows to the demands of the French and Germans but we are in a different era to when he was in charge.
This Prime Minister will always put our interests ahead of other organisations even if it means having an argument with former Prime Ministers. You may be surprised to hear that Sir John Major has demanded that we act in a supine way to the interests of the EU but you will not be surprised to hear that Boris Johnson is still on course to deliver whilst Labour are veering off to where political opportunism takes them.
Labour voted against the Withdrawal Agreement when they thought that their actions would keep us in and now, they are fighting for it when they believe that it will damage us. I sometimes criticise Jeremy Corbyn MP but I do not think that he would have taken Tony Blair’s lead on this, unlike his successor.
The doom mongers are having a bad few days as Britain has just agreed a new trade deal with Japan. This deal is far better than the one the EU negotiated with Japan and we were constantly being told that no country in the world would have any interest in the UK post-Brexit.
We are going through difficult times and this is when we really do need to pull together in our national interest.
