Author: Sir John Redwood
[This article was first published yesterday in Sir John Redwood’s Diary, and we re-publish it with his kind permission]
When I sent my letter I was still hoping to persuade the government to announce it could not get its Withdrawal Agreement through and to process to the free trade WTO exit route. A good answer would have been along these lines:
Dear John
You are right that in order to try to get an Agreement with the EU the UK did make various compromises. It also asked for an extension to our membership for a 21 month or two year period which came at a price over money and powers. The government thought this the best answer, but it is now clear people and Parliament do not agree.
We are therefore now looking at an expedited exit from the EU without signing the Withdrawal Agreement. We will be tabling a comprehensive free trade proposal, which the EU Commission has indicated it will consider.
Yours etc
I also thought I might get a whitewash brush off letter:
Dear John
Thank you for your letter. Whilst we do not agree with your interpretation of what might happen were we to sign the EU Withdrawal Treaty, I acknowledge as you mainly point out that in the transition period the UK will continue to make budgetary payments and observe EU laws. This seems to the government to be entirely fair and to give the UK more time to adjust to exit. I do not accept we will necessarily be in transition for almost four more years, nor accept that we will have to stay in the customs union indefinitely owing to the backstop provision. The powers and charges that last beyond transition are proportionate and reasonable.
You need to accept that compromises have to be made and this was the best deal the UK government was able to negotiate.
Yours etc
The argument over which of two Ministers might reply indicates to me a certain unhappiness about having to deal with the individual points highlighted in the letter, and a recognition that the draft treaty does indeed keep the UK under the full control of the EU for at least 21 more months and maybe much longer depending on how things work out. It is on any reading a Stay in not a leave agreement. The argument is over how long it might last and what it does to any eventual leaving, given the way it removes many of the UK’s best bargaining levers. The backstop threatens permanent customs membership and other clauses have an impact well beyond the next 21 months. It does not unequivocally let us leave at any future date, and binds us in to more EU controls and bills without vote or voice to protest. Under it you can be sure we are locked in on bad terms for an unspecified period, with no easy way out and under huge pressure to sacrifice yet more to try to get out.
from PMB I told John Redwood, way back that I wished he was in charge of his Party. I think his ideas on how to run the economy are very well thought out. Many would find them counter intuitive, or even ‘Rich get Richer’ but I do not believe that. He was Front Bench in the Thatcher era. While I now think she went too far in some respects John Redwoods arguments make sense to me still. In one of his recent ‘Diaries’ he was explaining that he would remain a Conservative MP, though many have suggested he change allegiance.
If only we COULD get rid of Traitor May.
Just seen on Skye News someone has dredged up MORE anti Tommy Robinson stuff. Meanwhile Nigel Farage is undermining UKIP’s chances in the E.U. elections that we should not be holding.
I DESPAIR.
Perhaps there will be a change of stance on 24th May!!!! The Brexit Party looks set to wipe the floor with the small Conservatives, Flipping good job too!
Although, thinking the matter over….. our current ‘c’ list PM is so wooden headed and determined to sell her country down the river into permanent slavery to the EU, I expect she will still find some way to carry on clinging to the dream that she can get her ‘worst deal in history’ through Parliament and on to the statute book! She has already ignored the Article 50 statute (carried by some 498 MPs) that meant we should have left the EU under WTO rules already on 29th March 2019. The court case running through the auspices of Robin Tilbrook is seeking to prove that she acted illegally. He deserves support in that endeavour!
Somehow the word ‘treachery’ doesn’t seem strong enough any more for what this egregious female has done to Britain! There surely must be a powerful promise of a very huge ‘paycheck’ or reward in kind to come for her for betraying the whole country into the hands of the foreign power!
If only the Conservative Party hadn’t bottled it on the confidence vote last year. We might be in different territory now! But they did and now they will reap the wild wind of the Brexit Party that will blow them out of the water next week!
Well done John Redwood. If only all MP’s were astute and able to grasp all the essential facts as he seems able to do, then this country might be in a whole different place to where we are now. It has been said countless times now but get rid of that useless excuse of a prime minister as quickly as possible and put somebody in place who has a bit of backbone, political conviction and a bit of nous. She still hangs on in there oblivious as to what is going on. If somebody like John Redwood was at the helm I might even vote Conservative myself. As it stands at the moment that day will never come. The whole situation is utterly utterly sickening. So much for democracy. We need a mass clear out of the House of Commons, and the Brexit Party provides that possibility in the not too distant……….
Listen to the clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXZQkilv1mg&t=912s
Especially where it gets to China at the 2.36 mark.
Trump doesn’t yet have a trade deal with China and by the sounds of it, he doesn’t particularly want one. The American Government can raise money by imposing tariffs on goods imported from China which in the future could be used to lower taxes. Although our circumstances might be different as much of our manufacturing industry has been hollowed out by the globalists the idea of the UK using tariffs to raise revenue and control foreign governments and by implication foreign companies, is something I believe the UK should be aiming for. Something that will only be possible when we are completely out of the EU.
Here’s what I think our government should be saying to the lads in Brussels:
1) Goodbye, in as many languages as are necessary, with the possible inclusion of some Anglo Saxon.
2) We will trade on WTO terms while our bureaucrats learn how to impose tariffs and replace those who are unable or unwilling to learn.
3) We will then commence placing tariffs on imports from the EU and other countries, while being careful with regards the US while Trump is president. (We will also be examining the feasibility of abolishing or reducing VAT if revenue raised from tariffs make this feasible).
4) We might then become interested in a trade deals with some other countries like the US and perhaps the EU depending on the merits of their offer.
When working as an engineer I’ve always got on well with accounting types and found them very helpful provided they’re given the right parameters within which to work.