The feared leadership challenge to Theresa May led by Jacob Rees-Mogg never quite materialised this week and the 48 MP letters needed to trigger a leadership challenge have not “yet” arrived at the door of Sir Graham Brady. It has also been suggested that some MP’s have withdrawn their letters for the time being.
The Conservatives hold 318 seats in the House of Commons. Around 50 MP’s wish to leave the Customs Union and Single Market now and are prepared to accept World Trade Organisation rules from March 29th. Another 50 would be happy if we just remained in the EU. But the majority of silent Tory’s MP’s are those who will determine when will be the right time to oust Mrs May.
So Mrs May went back to Brussels on Wednesday and on the advice of her cabinet colleagues took a bolder stand with Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission on the 7-page document which sets out the future relationship between the UK and EU.
But as she left London, the Spanish government made the point that it would also reject the 500-page divorce deal because of little Gibraltar – a population of around 35,000. To put this small number into context, the London Borough of Barnet where the largest Jewish population reside has around 400,000 residents. Gibraltar is a tenth of Barnet.
And we were always told that the EU spoke with one voice. But that’s not true because even the Italians with 37% unemployment of their young folk are beginning to resent the EU even more after being squeezed into a fiscal policy against their will.
When Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage debated the EU in April 2014, the then deputy Prime Minister called Mr Farage a fantasist by suggesting the EU would prepare for a European army.
Four years later, President Macron of France announced there will be an EU army to combat the threat from China, Russia and believe it or not, the United States.
Mrs Merkal of Germany confirmed the need for an EU army while the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani said that the EU must become more powerful using the word Empire. He further said the EU must raise its budget from each member state, form a European army and that there will be one foreign policy with “no” veto from any member nation.
That means the EU institutions would want one collective policy on Israel (and others) without any country being able to oppose it. I hate to say it, but Nigel Farage was correct. The people of Europe are sleepwalking into a Super-State which I believe the majority of European citizens are against and their governments know it.
But unlike America where the 50 states do retain power of legislation to pass such laws as state taxes, gun laws, age of consent, marriage, drinking and even the death penalty, Brussels would control all legislation and all power.
For those who wish to remain within the EU, they should be made aware of what is taking place. The budget will increase which means our £367 million pounds per week goes up, we will have a centralised defence policy with one foreign policy, an army and eventually an air force.
For those who wish to support the Withdrawal Agreement which the Cabinet approved does not deliver the outcome of the EU Referendum. It goes against the 2017 Conservative Party Manifesto and promises made by the Prime Minister in her Lancaster House and Florence speeches.
17.4 million People voted to leave the EU and take back control in the biggest show of democracy seen in this country. Negotiators from the UK and the EU have now run roughshod over their views and the Referendum result.
Back in December last year when the backstop was first agreed the Government set a strategy which led to the Chequers proposals and then to the Withdrawal Agreement being negotiated.
Despite being forewarned of the grave misgivings held across the country the government continued to pursue this strategy. The collective actions of the government have left the country with the bitter taste of betrayal.
Having read the Withdrawal Agreement, it now appears that instead of leaving the EU and taking back control, we face being indefinitely chained to Brussels and all its EU rules and laws as well as being locked in the Customs Union. We will also be prevented from influencing laws the EU imposes on our country. We will be a rule-taker with no seat at the table when those rules are made.
The Agreement forces the UK to seek the permission and consent of the EU to negotiate and agree new trade agreements and treaties with other countries. It also demands that the UK does not act in any way that the EU feels is prejudicial to them – effectively giving the EU a veto over our foreign policy.
Instead of being free to take our place at the table of the WTO and make our own way in the world, the EU remains able to make demands of us and impose its will on our country.
The Agreement leaves us with no control over our borders with the EU’s free movement rules still applying. Likewise, the Agreement keeps the door open for the EU to take more hardworking taxpayers’ money, while there is no guarantee that we will get any comprehensive free trade deal in exchange for the £39 billion divorce settlement.
Of grave concern is the way the Agreement leaves our union in a fragile state, with Northern Ireland treated differently. The Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland leaves the UK unable to unilaterally leave the Protocol and its arrangements without the permission of the EU. It puts our precious Union at risk, something which we should never contemplate.
On top of this, the Withdrawal Agreement provides the Court of Justice of the EU with the powers to continue to determine our laws even beyond the transition period.
The Court will also serve as the enforcer of the Withdrawal Agreement – meaning that the EU can continue to impose its will on us and the jurisdiction of the Court continues to apply in this country.
Under the Agreement, Britain surrenders its freedom, sovereignty and place in world and will be firmly under the control of the EU. This is not what the country voted for and it is not in our nation’s best interests.
