PM must keep pledges
SIR – The Government was given an instruction by the British people to leave the European Union. It must ensure that this happens.
The wholly unnecessary backstop proposal will leave us trapped in a customs union with the EU indefinitely, breaching our manifesto commitments and leaving us unable to agree freetrade deals with non-EU countries.
The deal squanders £39billion of taxpayers’ money without a free-trade deal in return. If this is the best deal that can be secured, then it must be accepted that to have no deal is better – for this is the very definition of a bad deal.
No deal would see us temporarily trading on the same basis as China, India and the United States, while providing an advantageous position from which we can take the opportunity to strike global free-trade agreements including a potential Canada++ style agreement with Brussels.
Following an EU “common rulebook” on how products are made, would already represent a significant blow to our sovereignty. Now it appears we could be on the verge of remaining in the single market by the back door.
We must not agree to a raft of last-minute “level playing field” regulatory demands, which would mean UK firms having to abide by EU rules. Letting the EU dictate how our companies are run would amount to total capitulation.
As Liam Fox rightly said last week, the decision to leave any UK-wide backstop must rest unilaterally with the sovereign UK government, and not be sub-contracted to somebody else.
Otherwise, the EU deal will fly in the face of the referendum result, run totally contrary to Conservative values and risk delivering a Corbyn government at the next election.
As Conservative chairmen, we therefore call on the Prime Minister now to show all Cabinet ministers the full legal advice so that they can make a fully informed decision. She must ensure that the final deal complies with those red lines that she set out in both the 2017 general election manifesto and her Lancaster House speech – namely, leaving the customs union, the single market and European Court of Justice over-rule. Anthony Owen Chairman of Orpington Conservative Association Paulette Furse Chairman of Sevenoaks Conservative Association Cllr Diane Marsh Chairman of Gravesham Conservative Association Cllr Mike Fairhurst Chairman of Havant Conservative Association Cllr Gary Etheridge Chairman of Rochester & Strood Conservative Association Sam Smith Chairman of Gedling Conservative Association Amy Green Chairman of Leeds City Conservative Association Cllr Mike Payne Chairman of Halifax Conservative Association Cllr David Goldson Chairman, South Norfolk Conservative Association Cllr Alex Dale Chairman North Derbyshire Conservative Association Dinah Glover Chairman of Bethnal Green and Bow Conservative Association James Bundy Chairman of Scottish Young Conservatives Cllr Chas Mumford Chairman of Castle Point Conservative Association