Chloe SmithMP for Norwich North
Chloe SmithThis week the Government published a White Paper on its planned future relationship with the European Union once the UK has left. This is a comprehensive plan, which will deliver what the British people called for at the referendum – our departure from the European Union. You can access the paper itself by following this link:
I hope the EU will join us now in negotiating seriously on this basis.
Leaving the EU means: leaving the Single Market, leaving the Customs Union, ending free movement of people and ending the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. This White Paper sets out a plan to deliver each and every one of those aims.
We are a great trading nation. We are open and we have one of the world’s most innovative and advanced economies. In order to preserve and, indeed, enhance our status as a truly global nation, we must be pragmatic about our departure from the EU and look ahead to the future.
The plan puts forward a bold vision for the UK’s post-Brexit relationship with the EU.
Specifically, the Government’s proposal on the import and export of goods will provide frictionless opportunities for businesses to continue their activities across the continent, by remaining in common with existing standards. However, what has been proposed for the services sector of our economy is different. We need flexibility for services because we want to retain our leading position and innovate further. We seek a deal in services that will allow us to trade with Europe and the wider world and do even more.
In doing so, the plan delivers the referendum result sensibly because:
- It will end free movement of people;
- It will see the UK be able to develop its own independent trade policy;
- It will maintain our close security cooperation with our European colleagues – protecting us from harm;
- It will end vast contributions to the EU budget – meaning we have more to spend on our own public services;
- It will take the UK out of the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy;
- It will avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland; and
- It will maintain our already world class standard in consumer and employment rights
The Prime Minister is leading a sensible, pragmatic way forward. It means we deliver the referendum result and go for a deal that is right for the UK.
People’s jobs and livelihoods and the weekly family shopping depend on having goods moving easily between our countries. So it is important for Norwich that we also go out to get a deal which would support our leading position in financial services and other sectors.
People want the government to get on with Brexit, and that’s what’s happening. The PM is acting in the national interest and getting on with it.