Ever since the announcement that the UK and EU had shaken hands on the Withdrawal Agreement at a technical level on the 13th November, a political conflict has raged across Westminster.
It is, with few exceptions, an elite at war with itself over how best to overturn the result of the EU Referendum of 23rd June 2016. The options put forward by the many factions – the Deal, Norway, a second Referendum, revoke Article 50 – all fall far short of what is expected by the British people.
The Withdrawal Agreement itself can only be described in the harshest of terms. It is a cluster bomb of vomit that splits the UK in two (potentially in perpetuity), straitjackets the British economy, provides for the continued supremacy of EU law well into the future and signs away all the other opportunities that Brexit opens up for the UK.
The other soft Brexit options are no better. The Norway option would keep the UK bound to the Single Market and therefore stuck in a halfway house between leaving and remaining whilst revoking Article 50 and staying in the EU would be the most abominable act of betrayal ever committed by a British parliament against its own people. Likewise, a second referendum is an insidious attempt to undo the result of the 2016 referendum that would cut wounds so deep and trigger arguments so great that it would be virtually impossible to heal the country in the aftermath, no matter the result.
There is however another way forward. A No-Deal Brexit. Yes, it is not the desirable outcome after two years of hard negotiations and it is not without its own flaws, not least its vulnerability to the incompetence and inertia of the UK political establishment. Yet it is now the best option on the table for the EU has made clear that the Withdrawal Agreement is the only deal available.
Theresa May argues that because it is the best and only deal available, we should sign it. Consider this though, if the only car in the dealers was rusty, with a dodgy engine, mouldy interior and a rear axle ready to shear off, and you could only drive to destinations determined by its former owner, would you buy it? The answer, unless you are very foolish indeed, is no. Why then should we take the deal available or any other of the options that do not deliver a true Brexit?
The people voted to Leave the EU. This decision must be honoured for the sake of democracy, let alone the repatriation and preservation of Britain’s sovereignty over its own territory and people. A No-Deal Brexit delivers this, but this is of course why the establishment resists it because as has become apparent over the last two years, the people being masters of their own fate is the last thing modern European politicians want.
A No-Deal Brexit also offers so much more than sovereignty. The majority of global economic growth will occur outside of the EU’s protectionist bubble. Britain is perfectly placed to take advantage of this fact. As it has done over the centuries, the UK has always prospered more when it takes a globally focussed rather than a Eurocentric economic policy. Upon a No-Deal Brexit, Britain can immediately lower trade tariffs, boosting economic growth whilst it strikes free trade deals with the USA, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the CANZUK nations and the Commonwealth amongst others.
A reorientation of foreign policy including both British hard and soft power can be brought to bear to defend our allies and advance UK economic and political interests. From strengthening our friendships with Israel and the anglosphere to investing in Africa, the UK can make significant positive changes to humanity whilst also providing for its citizens at home.
The detractors of No-Deal argue that it would take years for these benefits to materialise and in the meantime, the UK would suffer cataclysmic economic and social strife. This could not be further from the truth. Just today the EU announced contingency plans for a No-Deal Brexit. This includes allowing planes to fly and trucks to drive between the UK and the EU, mutual recognition for financial institutions and continued protection for EU and UK citizens living and working in each other’s territory.
In addition, agreements are also being reached between the UK and countries such as the USA and Switzerland to keep the show on the road after the 29th March 2019. The central planks of Project Fear are therefore entirely false.
A No-Deal Brexit would rip up the worst deal of the century and allow the UK to take back control of its own fate. It would make available a wealth of economic opportunities at home and abroad and would finally force Westminster to end its deliberate abdication of duty. The fear surrounding such a Brexit is an insulting untruth designed to keep us tied to the EU for all time and it should be rejected, just as it was in 2016.
Britain can and will be successful from day 1 post No-Deal Brexit. True, it will not be easy, but nothing was ever gained without hard work. The people voted to undertake this journey to a better future. It is now time for the politicians to realise they can no longer resist this call for change but to embrace it and make it work for the citizens of this great nation.
Author: Luke Brandon
photo credit: https://democraticac.de/?p=55679
19/12/2018
A British Conservative 