Magnanimity in victory is the way to a British exit

Reinvigorating our parliamentary democracy has been one of the most important aims Leavers like me hope we can achieve with Brexit but in the debates over the EU Withdrawal Bill it’s been the Remainers who have done their best to prove us right.

For years we had streams of directives flowing from Brussels that were approved with barely any oversight by the democratically accountable in Westminster.

All this massive corpus of law is in force here only because we are an EU member state. The Government is attempting to incorporate it directly into UK law through the Withdrawal Bill.

Now, however, the evangelists of Remain expound that this is a power grab. They who nary so much as bat an eyelid when commands came down from Brussels have had the scales fall from their eyes as they realise the breadth and importance of European laws and directives which are being repatriated.

We welcome their conversion to the cause and hope that the years after Brexit will be ones full of vigorous discussion in the Commons. Many laws and directives are matters for legitimate debate, and that is the reason we thought they should be scrutinised and decided upon by us. Nonetheless, Brexiteers must affirm Churchill’s principle: “In victory, magnanimity.” We are leaving the EU, our objective is in sight. If greater parliamentary scrutiny is one of the benefits, then what harm would it do to give more time to the Withdrawal Bill?

Perhaps a special select committee could allow MPS to highlight areas that require attention and have them put on official record. If sensible, the Government would be wise to take them on board. I am disappointed in the huffing and puffing of Remainers in Parliament and the hostility of Michel Barnier, but I said in the Commons this week that we in the UK could do more to alleviate the stressful tone that is dominating Brexit.

We have already made huge financial contributions to the EU and our leaving will leave a hole in their exchequer. Would it really harm us to contribute for a year or two more? We are flourishing and Brexit will make us flourish further. Brexit will be a boon to our budget, so further payments would be no loss while providing great gains in clearing the lingering negative atmosphere.

Britain will always be a European country, both geographically and culturally. We want to build a better future with Europe, enjoying close ties but out of a political union. This is what we voted for by a majority of over a million and we need to deploy our tradition of generosity and British civic-mindedness.