Get on with it – or we won’t be forgiven

WE stand at a critical juncture in our country’s history.

After tough negotiations, we have at last reached an agreement with the EU that recognises our shared history and values, and provides the foundations for a strong and sustainable future relationship.

So now is the time to focus on that prize – a prize that will restore our status as an independent trading nation with control over our money, our borders and our laws.

That is what people voted for in 2016 – and that is what this Government will deliver.

These are big wins and the British public is right to admire the Prime Minister’s tenacity, resilience and sheer commitment to delivering in the national interest.

The British people are right too to demand their Government gets on with Brexit. We are leaving the EU in just four months and Britons now just want us to honour that historic referendum result. This is a deal that does just that. A good deal that brings us the benefits of Brexit and lets us focus on the big domestic issues. This deal delivers what I campaigned for, which was to take back control and have a sovereign choice about our future arrangements.

Some people appear to have reached decisions on this package – the Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration – almost immediately after the former was released and before the latter had been agreed. I would urge all of my colleagues who are considering opposing this deal to think again. This deal delivers the implementation period which gives businesses the certainty they need to plan ahead.

It allows us to negotiate our future relationship with Brussels cordially and professionally. It avoids the disruption and uncertainty that no-deal would bring.

It ends free movement once and for all. Instead, we will introduce an immigration system based on skills this country needs – not on the country people come from, but on what they can contribute to the UK.

It ends the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in the UK. We will make our own laws in our own Parliaments. It will protect the rights of EU citizens already living in the UK and UK citizens living in the EU. It will ensure a fair settlement on our financial obligations – the so-called ‘divorce bill’ – less than half what some expected.

And it will meet our commitment to ensure there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland and no customs border in the Irish Sea.

As the Prime Minister made clear, this agreement is explicit about how determined both the UK and the EU are to avoid using the backstop altogether by getting the future relationship in place by January 2021. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that the backstop is deeply unattractive to the European Union. And importantly, there is a commitment in black and white to consider arrangements which could avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.

We recognise that of course compromises have had to be made, but they’ve been made on both sides to deliver an agreement that works in all our interests.

It is now up to MPs to decide whether to approve this deal. Politicians on all sides are preparing to make a decision which will shape our country’s relationship with the EU for generations. And EU leaders have made it clear that there is no other deal on the table.

We have a deal within our grasp that delivers on the referendum, while protecting jobs and the integrity of the United Kingdom.

Let’s get on with it. Or the British public might never forgive us.