Article 50 must not be delayed by arch Remoaners
PARLIAMENT is about to enter one of the most momentous weeks in its history: the return of our national independence from foreign rule now lies in its hands. Today MPs have the duty to vote through a clean, unamended version of the Article 50 legislation to trigger our departure from the EU, rejecting the irresponsible attempts of the Lords to thwart the Brexit process.
If all goes smoothly the Prime Minister could declare as early as tomorrow that she has formally written to Commission President JeanClaude Juncker to begin our withdrawal.
Yet the Article 50 Bill could still be derailed by an unholy alliance of rebels who may have enough strength to deny the Government a majority. Sanctimonious and self-regarding, the Remoaners have never accepted the verdict of the electorate in last summer’s referendum.
They now see another chance to overturn the will of the people by pushing today for the acceptance of the two crucial Lords’ amendments, one calling for the Government to guarantee the rights of all EU nationals living here, the other demanding that Parliament be given the final say on any Brexit deal.
NEITHER of these changes can be agreed. Together they would rob ministers of leverage in negotiations with the EU and ensure that Brexit could be dragged out for years. But that is precisely why the Remoaners have eagerly embraced the two amendments, seeking to discredit Brexit by causing maximum aggravation and delay.
In the same cynical way, the pro-EU brigade continues to reprise Project Fear with alarmist propaganda about the consequences of any refusal to adopt a soft compromise with Brussels. “We live in frightening times,” shrieked the Lib Dem leader Tim Farron at weekend, wailing that Britain is at risk “of jumping out of a plane without a parachute”.
The same language of suicide was used by Tory rebel MP Anna Soubry, who warned yesterday that we might “crash out off the cliff”.
More doom-laden rhetoric came yesterday from the puffed-up Foreign Affairs Select Committee, which accused ministers of a “dereliction of duty” in their reluctance to plan for a failure to reach a deal with the EU.
The result, claimed the Committee, could be “mutually assured damage”, a deliberately chosen phrase that echoed the apocalyptic Cold War thesis about “mutually assured destruction” between the nuclear powers.
This is defeatist nonsense. It is craven to pretend that we will now face Armageddon simply because we want national freedom in place of governance by Junker’s oligarchy. We are one of the most successful nations on earth with a fast-growing economy, a global language and an enormous cultural reach.
If, after two years, we do not reach a deal with the EU, it is hardly a disaster. We will just move to World Trade Organisation rules under which the average tariffs are just three per cent, while we negotiate our own international trade deals. Besides, talks with the EU will only be as complicated as the eurocrats or our civil servants allow.
As Sir Ivan Rogers, the former British Ambassador to Brussels, reportedly admitted in a private conversation, a settlement could be reached in 10 minutes if both sides agreed to be tariff free.
All that is required for a prosperous future is a sense of patriotic spirit and a determination to uphold our national interests.
Recently there has been a lot of grim talk about the vast £50billion “exit fee” we will supposedly have to pay Brussels. Now it turns out that such a claim has not a shred of either legal or financial credibility. In fact the EU owes us at least £9billion for our share of the assets created with our contributions.
Just as absurd is the Select Committee’s nonsense that Brexit might be scuppered at the last minute by opposition from the EU Parliament. The correct response to the federalist fanatics there would be to show them the same disdain that they display towards national sovereignty.
At least the Government seems in a resolute mood. “What we can’t have is either House of Parliament reversing the decision of the British people,” declared the Brexit Secretary David Davis yesterday. He is right. Ministers cannot be held back by the antics of the Remoaners.
THERE is no way that our Government could guarantee the rights of EU citizens here while Brussels refuses to do the same for British expats in Europe. Moreover, it would be wrong to give a blanket promise to every single EU migrant given the scale of the current influx and the reality that some of them, such as criminals or benefit freeloaders, are undesirable aliens.
It is telling that the Remoaners want to put the rights of foreigners before those of British people, indicative of the same mindset that foisted open borders and multiculturalism on our society.
Equally a move to hand Parliament the definitive say on Brexit would be a recipe for chaos, giving the unaccountable Lords the ultimate veto. The true sovereignty of Parliament will only exist when Britain is a sovereign nation once more. That will not happen if the Remoaners are allowed to exert a destructive influence.
‘All that’s required is a patriotic spirit’