You don’t have a mandate now, Monsieur Barnier. Go back to your EU masters
IT IS more than three years since the British people voted to leave the European Union in the biggest democratic exercise in our history, only to reach an agreement that Parliament just could not accept. The Irish backstop led to deadlock, the machinery of Government gummed up with the same arguments we had in 2016.
We needed a fresh approach and we’ve got one. With a change of Prime Minister, we have the combination of determination and optimism we need to end the impasse.
I am honoured Boris Johnson has asked me to stay on as Secretary for Exiting the European Union to help finish the job of delivering Brexit.
We have a clear and unambiguous position – we will leave the EU on October 31, whatever the circumstances. We would prefer to leave with a new deal, but will be ready to leave without one, having made all the necessary preparations.
The facts are unchanged. Parliament will not accept the withdrawal agreement as it is.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier is telling us his instructions from European leaders mean he cannot change it. As he told me when we spoke last week, his mandate is his mandate – he can only negotiate what the Commission and leaders of member states have agreed.
But the political realities have changed si nce Mr Barnier’s instructions were set. Since the last mandate was agreed, 61 per cent of all the EU states’ MEPs have changed. Such a fundamental shift illustrates the need for a change of approach.
Mr Barnier needs to urge EU leaders to consider this if they too want an agreement, to enable him to negotiate in a way that finds common ground with the UK. Otherwise, No Deal is coming down the tracks.
The countries of the EU need to ask themselves what is in our shared best interest. This is for the UK to have a smooth and orderly exit. They also need to understand the depth of feeling in Parliament against the anti-democratic backstop. It was voted down three times because it would be easier to leave the EU than the backstop.
MPs have been clear they cannot allow the people of Northern Ireland to have an indefinite period of continued alignment foisted on them. It would mean Northern Irish voters – UK citizens – being governed by rules in which they have no say.
And since we can only leave the backstop by agreement with the EU, once it is triggered we could be locked into it for ever.
It is our firm view that Irish border issues should be dealt with in talks on the future agreement between the UK and the EU – where they should always have been – and we’re ready to negotiate in good faith on this basis.
We do not accept that these issues can be solved only by all or part of the UK remaining in the customs union and Single Market. The e vi dence is t hat o t her arrangements are feasible, can better balance the risks, and will – in due course – be practical. That is the right approach.
We have already started work across Whitehall to find the solutions, and they can and will be found, in the context of the free trade agreement we will negotiate with the EU after October 31.
The unalterable fact is that the withdrawal agreement was voted down and the parliamentary arithmetic remains unchanged. Attitudes have polarised even further since the European Parliamentary elections in May.
There is simply no chance of any deal being passed t hat i ncludes t he anti- democratic backstop. This is the reality that the EU has to face.
Meanwhile, the appointment of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister has only strengthened the UK’s mandate to leave on October 31. He made clear throughout his leadership campaign we would leave the EU with or without a deal.
In recent weeks, there has been much discussion of the possibility of a No Deal Brexit. As Thursday’s announcement of a further £ 2.1 billion to turbocharge No Deal preparations demonstrates, we will be ready for any outcome.
But the truth is that a deal is entirely possible if the EU takes a reasonable and sensible approach. They should start by giving their chief negotiator, Mr Barnier, the room to negotiate.
61 per cent of all the EU states’ MEPs have now changed There’s simply no chance of a deal that includes the backstop