Are we ready for Brexit?
With less than a year to go until the UK leaves the European Union, Asa Bennett asks leading voices about their hopes and fears
‘Our liberty is in sight’ Jacob Rees-mogg, MP for North Somerset and Brexiteer
In the year since the Article 50 Bill was passed, events have waxed and waned considerably. There was an initial sense of excitement that a great and powerful ship had been launched, one whose maiden voyage was to the “port of Liberty”… but then events intervened.
In 2016, the decision to call a general election seemed a masterstroke, an opportunity to gain a large majority that would help ensure that a strong government could negotiate effectively with the European Commission. Alack, alas, the Gods thought otherwise and a hung parliament left a weakened Prime Minister sending off a secretary of state to Brussels unable to bang the table.
Theresa May continues to make it clear that “Brexit means Brexit”, and has reassured Parliament and the electorate that, at the end of December 2020, we will leave the single market, the customs union and the European Court of Justice. It is a pity that this is 21 months later than it could have been, but in the great span of our island story it is not an undue delay.
Once we have left, freedom from EU structures and regulations will revitalise the UK’S economy. Politicians can be held to account for what they do without blaming Brussels bureaucrats, and we will not be bound by the statist, mixed economy approach that has hampered our economic growth.
The destination of “Liberty” is still in sight, even if there have been some winter squalls. When we arrive, we will recognise that these were not significant.
‘We are likely to limp over the finish line’ Nigel Farage, former Ukip leader and Brexiteer
We are one year away from a day of national liberation. It is the day children will read about in their history lessons for years to come, and the day we leave the political construct of the European Union, becoming an independent nation once again.
I have no doubt there will be repeated attempts by the political class, their media allies and the battalions of global business to stop this liberation from occurring.
They will plot and scheme with Monsieur Barnier in Brussels and lobby to get our MPS to reject the final deal and force a second referendum.
While I am aware and concerned about that risk, I do not believe that when the final deal comes, our MPS will be stupid enough to deny the will of the people. If they were to choose that route, then prepare for a backlash from a very, very angry public. The fishermen’s protest on the Thames would be as nothing if the public felt genuinely betrayed.
Unfortunately, the historic break with the European treaties will not be as a result of a triumphant march towards independence. We are more likely to limp over the finishing line.
The huge, unnecessary concessions that have been made by our Prime Minister mean that for a further 21 months of transition we will still, in effect, be a member of the EU, but on slightly worse terms. Whether our Points of view: from left, Nigel Farage, June Sarpong, Jacob Rees-mogg, Priti Patel, Stanley Johnson and Lord Adonis GDP gets slightly smaller or bigger is anyone’s guess, but crucially it is not the point.
Brexit was not a decision made on future economic predictions. This is about our independence, our democracy and our ties with a wider world than our European neighbours.
We have just one year to wait for that great day to arrive.
‘I’m not tearing my hair out’ Stanley Johnson, former MEP and Remain campaigner
Much of my professional life has been spent working in, with, or for the EU. On April 10 1973, I joined the staff of the European Commission in Brussels as one of that first wave of Brits who crossed the Channel to start new lives and new careers. I believed then, and still believe, in what we were doing. But this really is the beginning of the end, and it leaves a slight bittersweet taste in my mouth.
So why am I not tearing my hair out about Brexit? That’s an easy one to answer. Quite simply, I have accepted the result of the referendum. Whatever deal finally
emerges, my concern now is to help ensure that the issues that I and so many others fought for at EU level – such as the environment – do not slip through the cracks.
I am encouraged by the fact that the Withdrawal Bill now under consideration in Parliament will ensure that the EU’S existing environmental legislation will, for the most part, be transposed into domestic law. There may even be, as Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, has suggested, a “green Brexit bonus”. The proof of that particular pudding will be in the eating.
We may be voting to walk the plank without actually knowing what awaits us on the other side. But, at the very least, let’s not throw out the baby with the bath water.
‘The public just want it done’ Priti Patel, former cabinet minister and Vote Leave campaigner
With a year to go, we must expect the toughest negotiations as we finalise withdrawal arrangements and future trade deals. We must also robustly reject those who want to talk down our country and betray our future.
There is an urgency to state a positive, coherent vision for Britain beyond Brexit. This is no longer an argument about whether Brexit was a good idea; the public want it done. They want to know that their political leaders will stay true to the promise made to them, that Brexit means Brexit. That means delivering a vision for Britain beyond Brexit and grasping this national mission to lay the foundations for Britain to enter a new golden era of freedom and prosperity.
‘We can still vote to stay’ Lord Adonis, Remainer who campaigns to reverse the Brexit decision
We do not have to leave the EU. It is not inevitable. As we get closer to the March 2019 deadline imposed by Article 50, more and more people will demand the chance to decide on whatever deal the Government eventually does with Brussels.
The alleged benefits of Brexit disappear one by one as the previously unforeseen or unacknowledged dangers mount. That is why, one year on from Article 50, I no longer say that there is a chance that we could be given a final vote on the final deal. Instead, I tell people that it is inevitable that we will get our say.
‘Some things are more important than Brexit’ June Sarpong, broadcaster and Remainer
The whole Brexit process is starting to remind me more and more of that famous scene in Fight Club, where Brad Pitt persuades Edward Norton to let go of the steering wheel and embrace the consequences as they’re driving down a busy, rain-soaked motorway. It certainly doesn’t seem to resemble in any way the Vote Leave slogan of “taking back control”.
What Brexit has become, more than anything else, is a giant distraction from the very real problems facing this country, from housing, to the NHS, to inequality and to education.
‘To leave now is foolhardy’ Vince Cable, Liberal Democrat leader and Remainer
The country was evenly divided down the middle about the merits of Brexit and Remain. While the balance of domestic opinion may not have greatly changed since the referendum, the world has.
The declaration of trade war by President Trump is ushering in a dangerous era of protectionism. I share Theresa May’s belief in free trade but for Britain to leave the EU at this juncture is foolhardy.
The fact that the EU has got the Trump administration to retreat from tariffs on EU steel tells us that EU collective action and the threat of retaliation are the best defences for a liberal trading system.
As Martin Donnelly, my former permanent secretary, memorably put it: we are giving up a threecourse meal in return for a bag of crisps.
‘After Brexit, Germany will face tough questions’ Gisela Stuart, former Labour MP and chair of Vote Leave
In spite of a yearning for progress, the negotiations are taking their time. No one should be surprised. They always do. And as the talks progress, we are starting to see the shape of the trade-offs that may be necessary and which may mean we will end up doing some things broadly as before, in particular where it is in our common interest to do so. The discussions about our relationship with Russia after the nerve gas attack in Salisbury are one such example.
But change there will be. The supremacy of EU law, automatic payments into the EU budget and the rules on immigration are areas where it won’t be business as usual.
The EU will have to change, too, and not just in response to losing its second-largest net contributor. The call for fiscal transfer payments will inevitably see tense conversations between Germany and the other euro countries. To read more, go to telegraph.co.uk/brexit