The Salzburg debacle should convince Britain it must build up trade with the rest of the world
SIR – The rejection of the Chequers plan by the EU was to be expected, because Chequers compromised the fundamental characteristic of the EU, the single market. The EU had no alternative but to reject it.
The single market is a zone in which there is free internal trade and common regulation, so that outsiders wishing to sell goods to the EU have to pay tariffs to the EU and conform to the regulations. When Britain is outside the EU, the EU tariffs will not apply to British trade with the rest of the world. That is why Brexit is such a huge opportunity for British business.
In response to tariffs on British exports to the EU, Britain must restrain itself from reciprocation, because tariffs on imports increase prices and are bad for British consumers. This may seem unfair but it is how it is.
United as the members of the EU may be today, in the long term, the EU will develop an existential crisis because the single market, although comforting to its members in the club, is inefficient.
Britain is leaving the EU not only because it wants to govern by means of parliamentary democracy, but also because economically, prosperity will come from global trade. Let us keep this in mind when contemplating the debacle in Salzburg.
Admittedly, it is embarrassing that anyone in London ever thought that Chequers might have been accepted. Let us take a hint, and get on with sorting out sensible arrangements with the EU for the future (which may mean using World Trade Organisation rules), in the knowledge that reality is on our side.
Sir James Pickthorn Bt
London SW6
SIR – The path to a simple Brexit is still as obvious as it has been since the referendum.
The first step is to join the EEA or Efta (the Norway solution). This allows free trade with no hard borders.
Then we must negotiate with the EU to limit immigration to “workers”, not all citizens.
This will achieve substantially what the electorate voted for in the referendum – sovereignty, independent lawmaking, immigration limits and free trade.
Apart from the “free movement” negotiation (arguably still meeting the “four freedoms” EU test), the rest would be in our own hands and not subject to potential EU intransigence.
The question therefore is: can the Conservative Party put aside all its egos and its muddled approach (based on internal party division) and execute a pragmatic plan of action? Ron W Forrest
Sutton Coldfield
SIR – Emmanuel Macron and his chums deeply resent our attempt to exit the EU club. Their aim is to be as obstructive as possible.
Quite where we go from here, heaven only knows. Surely not a second referendum. What question would be asked? John Taylor
Purley, Surrey
SIR – The coordinated attempt by the EU leaders in Salzburg to humiliate our Prime Minister just shows how desperate they are to keep the UK golden goose within their flock.
They constantly stress what Britain will lose by leaving, while hiding the damage our move could well cause to their fragile economies, unless a realistic compromise is agreed.
The biggest threat is the pathetic in-fighting between our own politicians, many of whom refuse to accept the country’s democratic decision to leave. Terry Nigh
Shanklin, Isle of Wight
SIR – We are now experiencing clear and incontrovertible evidence that this club is one of which no self-respecting nation would wish to be a member. Neale Edwards
Chard, Somerset
SIR – I have the greatest respect for Theresa May; I think she sees the divisions in society over Brexit and wants the best deal for all concerned.
However, much as I do not want to see a no-deal Brexit, I cannot bear to see her humiliated by the other members of the EU, and I now hope she will walk away. Enough is enough. Dorothea Barnes
Southend-on-sea, Essex
SIR – Has the Prime Minister not had enough of letting the United Kingdom be insulted by this vile dictatorship and its puppet heads of state? I certainly have. Nicholas Pertwee
Reigate, Surrey
SIR – Please can someone remove Mrs May? Tony Blair went, and so did Margaret Thatcher.
Britain is going nowhere while she is in charge. The job of Prime Minister is too big for her, and she must be made to see this and stand aside. Mary Wiedman
Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
SIR – Once again the EU leaders have shown complete disregard for the British people and, in Emmanuel Macron’s case, have been insulting.
He should remember that his country would be under German rule were it not for the efforts of Britain. He now appears to be willing to accept German control once the European scheme is complete.
A majority of British people voted for Brexit because we did not wish to be governed by an unelected, boozy bureaucrat in Brussels ultimately controlled by Berlin. Geoffrey Wyartt
Newent, Gloucestershire
SIR – President Macron’s allegation that we were all lied to during the referendum campaign reveals a disturbing lack of historical memory.
The European Union was originally conceived as a single market, and that was what we joined. We are leaving because it is morphing into a fully fledged federal state of which we do not wish to be a part.
Please let us just depart gracefully, operate according to WTO rules, govern ourselves, trade with the world, manage our own immigration, and stop paying huge sums of our
citizens’ hard-earned money to the poorly managed, faceless entity which the European Union has become.
Dr Michael A Fopp
Soulbury, Buckinghamshire
SIR – How dare that little man Macron lecture us on Brexit. Theresa May has not been humiliated – she has been bullied. I wonder if they would try the same tactics on a male prime minister. Helen Penney
Longborough, Gloucestershire
SIR – When will the Prime Minister realise that when the EU humiliates her, it is not personal, but rather a humiliation of the British people whom she represents? Kevin Cottrell
Grosmont, Monmouthshire
SIR – We should now put aside party politics and back Mrs May and our country against a group of arrogant and bad-mannered EU bureaucrats trying to bully us into staying.
I think we should just walk away and pay them nothing. They need our money, and that’s the sticking point. Monica Macauley
Taunton, Somerset
SIR – When will Theresa May realise that she’s flogging a dead dodo? Sam Kendall-marsden
Huntingdon
SIR – No means no. Simon Mcilroy Croydon, Surrey
SIR – So that’s Chequers down the plughole. Time to sack Olly Robbins?
Poor Mrs May just doesn’t have the knack of picking people. Peter Richards
Poole, Dorset
SIR – Now we know what many had suspected. The EU never had any desire to reach an agreement with the UK. Its aim was to try to get the country to reverse its decision to leave. Richard Holdron
Wisbech, Cambridgeshire
SIR – How rude of Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, to put on Instagram that there were “no cherries” for Mrs May. How completely contradictory of EU behaviour too.
The 1992 Maastricht Treaty set out the financial principles for eurozone members, and the subsequent Stability Pact enjoined fines for members who break them. Budget deficits should have been no greater than 3 per cent of GDP, and total government debt no
more than 60 per cent. Another provision permitted no bailouts of member states. Just about every member state broke these debt rules, and no fines were levied. There have been six individual bailouts.
The Schengen Agreement, which supports free movement of people, is currently suspended by six member states.
“Core” principles, apparently inviolate when it comes to Brexit, are ripely cherry-picked when it suits the EU. Trevor Pitman
Beckenham, Kent
SIR – The seeds of Mrs May’s humiliation were sown not in Brussels or Salzburg but in Westminster.
The European Union Referendum Act was passed by 544 votes to 53. The Bill to start the Article 50 procedure was passed by 498 votes to 114.
However, the political elite did not get the result that they thought would follow. They undermined negotiations from the outset, appealing to the supremacy of Parliament. All this from MPS who have been conceding power to Brussels for the last 40 years.
The only course open to Mrs May now is to walk away from these fraudulent negotiations and for the UK to withhold all payments to the EU, and embark immediately on an extremely competitive tax regime to attract business to the UK. RG Hopgood
Kirby-le-soken, Essex
SIR – What terms would have been offered if David Davis or Boris Johnson (or anyone else) had been in charge of negotiations, and what would the reaction of “the 27” have been? Maggie Thoyts
Lymington, Hampshire
SIR – The EU seems to be having difficulty in understanding Mrs May with regard to the Irish border. Perhaps we should send the DUP’S Arlene Foster over for the next round. Ken Worthy
Esher, Surrey
SIR – Fraser Nelson (Comment, September 21) is right that “May might have watered [the Chequers deal] down into a Canada-style free trade deal, which the EU is willing to offer”. He then justifies ignoring this simple solution by saying: “But that won’t resolve the Irish border question.”
He does not mention a paper from the European Research Group that explained how the integrity of the single market could be guaranteed across the Irish border in accordance with the EU’S own rules. No one has been able to point out anything wrong with it, apart from the political fact that it is supported by Boris Johnson.
It seems to me that Mrs May is so process-driven and lacking in vision that she is too stubborn to admit a mistake and make a tactical change from Chequers to Canada Plus. Lorne Smith
Rugby, Warwickshire
SIR – Presumably a no-deal Brexit would result in a hard border in Northern Ireland, and would therefore be unacceptable. Neil Campbell
Canterbury, Kent
SIR – Why can the Labour Party not put up a spokesman to tell us what its position is on the Brexit negotiations?
Yet again Labour declined to go on the Today programme yesterday. We all know it wants to win the next election. However, without showing the authority and statesmanship needed to help the Brexit decision to be implemented, it will be asking us to vote for a party too frightened to speak out. Would you vote for such a party? Ann Ward
Scarborough, North Yorkshire