PM’s Brexit vision is the right one for Britain

We have a once in a generation chance to shape our country’s future as we forge a new relationship with Europe. On Friday night, the Cabinet united behind our Brexit deal for Britain – a vision that respects the referendum result, strengthens the union, maintains security and ensures our future prosperity. We now want to bring the country together around this vision and build a brighter future for Britain.

We believe this new relationship should be a broad relationship. It should reflect our deep history, close ties and our unique starting point. But it will also be a deal that makes good on our manifesto commitments – to regain control of our borders by ending freedom of movement, to restore the sovereignty of the UK Parliament and the supremacy of the British courts and to end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in the UK. And it will mean we no longer pay a huge annual membership fee to the EU each year – money that we can instead invest in our domestic priorities, like our long term plan for the NHS. So what was agreed at Chequers is a pragmatic as well as a principled Brexit deal, one that works for both the EU and the UK.

At its heart, and the key to meeting the challenge of our new relationship with the EU, is our new free trade zone for goods. In order to provide a deal that builds our future prosperity and safeguards jobs and livelihoods across the country, we need frictionless access to each other’s markets for goods once we have left. So we will establish a new free trade zone for goods which is underpinned by commitments to high standards and a common rule book. It would ensure there were no routine customs checks or controls between the UK and the EU and will allow the UK to control its own tariffs for trade with the rest of the world and strike new trade deals with other nations. This will protect the integrated supply chains so vital for businesses here and in the EU.

And crucially it will honour the Belfast Agreement and the integrity of the union by introducing a backstop mechanism that will ensure there is no hard border in Northern Ireland or between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. We would be consulted on any proposals to change the rule book and Parliament would have the right to reject any new rule, recognising that doing so would have consequences for our market access and the operation of a frictionless border between the UK and the EU.

While the free trade area will cover goods it will not cover services – and here we will have greater freedoms. That leaves us ready to make the most of the emerging new industries that are so central to our Modern Industrial Strategy. We will negotiate a separate deal for services with the EU – especially our world leading financial services sector – as talks progress. We would also be leaving the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy – giving our fishing industry and our farmers a fairer deal.

This is the vision set out by the Prime Minister at Mansion House and it confirms our commitment to leave the Single Market and the Customs Union while protecting jobs, supporting growth and maintaining security cooperation.

We want to build a stronger, fairer Britain, one that is open, outward looking and confident on the world stage. Our proposal will support businesses and safeguard jobs, while at the same time ensuring we can look beyond the borders of the EU and strike trade deals with other countries, allowing us to use our new freedom to negotiate with partners directly, and become a global champion of free trade. We are taking back control of our laws, borders, and money – but we will do so in a way that is good for business, good for trade, and good for the country as a whole. And while it remains our firm view that it is in the best interests of both sides to reach agreement on a good and sustainable future relationship, the Prime Minister has rightly set out our responsibility to step up preparations for a range of potential outcomes, including the possibility of “no deal”.

Our proposal is ambitious but fair, it respects the autonomy of the EU and the sovereignty of the UK. We have taken significant steps towards our final departure. Parliament has passed the EU Withdrawal Act. We have agreed the majority of the Withdrawal Agreement, setting out the terms on which we will leave, and we have agreed an implementation period between March 29, 2019, and the end of 2020. Now the Government has agreed a proposal for our future relationship with the EU. It is a substantial, credible offer that is right for Britain, and right for the EU. This is the offer we will bringing to the negotiating table.

We look forward to a constructive engagement with our EU neighbours – in the best interests of all our peoples.

Philip Hammond is the Chancellor of the Exchequer; Chris Grayling is the Transport Secretary at telegraph.co.uk/opinion