End divisions which slow progress

Andy Monk, Treasurer UKIP NW Cambs

The past couple of weeks have brought UKIP a new leader in Diane James and now the party must unite behind her and get on with the important business of winning seats both at council level and in Parliament.

There have been too many divisions within the party in recent years which have slowed down our progress as the third largest political party in the UK. This must now stop and as a party we must get fully behind Diane, our MP Douglas Carswell and our hardworking councillors throughout the country that do such an outstanding job.

There are County Council elections throughout the country next year and with the new boundary changes it will be tough for UKIP, but with hardwork and the selfless assistance provided by so many local grassroots supporters in UKIP we can have great success.

Post-Brexit the sky has not fallen onto our heads, the earth is still spinning and we have not had the financial meltdown that the prophets of doom from the Remain side promised would happen. In fact the FTSE 100 Index has reached its highest levels for a year and business is booming for many companies.

Our job as UKIP is to put pressure on Theresa May’s government to start the formal Brexit process as soon as possible so we can get on with opening up trade links with the many countries who are queuing up to trade with us.

There has been a lot of talk about triggering Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union to begin our two year divorce from membership of the EU. This would be a very involved process which would encounter going cap in hand to Brussels once again and demurring to the EU’s processes and extended bureaucracy for approximately two years, although this process could take longer with the inevitable disagreements along the way.

A far cleaner method of leaving the EU would be for the government to repeal The European Communities Act 1972, the Act that got the UK into the EU in the first place. By repealing the Act we could leave the EU on our own terms without any further interference or delay by the EU.

We could then regain our seat on the World Trade Organisation where we can negotiate trade deals as a full and independent member. We would once again have full control over internal regulations.

Currently more than 60 countries have trade deals with the EU, and six of the top ten exporters to the EU do not have a trade agreement with the EU at all. These are USA, China, Japan, Russia, India and Brazil.

So the future is bright. Look to the positives. Most of the media always wants to look at the negatives.

The UK has the fifth largest economy in the world and will truly prosper outside the claustrophobic confines of the straightjacket that is the EU. UKIP and the people of the UK who voted Leave on 23 June must put pressure on May’s government to keep its promises and truly Brexit as soon as possible.