It has been a bit of a personal journey for me and many other Brexiteers, but we’ve done it. The announcement on Christmas’ Eve by the Prime Minister that after a hard round of negotiations, the UK managed to secure a free trade agreement with the European Union, came as a great surprise to many.
Even before I had the great honour of being elected to Parliament I had been campaigning for our country to leave the European Union and restore our full sovereignty as an independent and free nation. I also campaigned for an in-out referendum. During the referendum itself, I was coordinator of Vote Leave for Yorkshire MPs. When Theresa May didn’t seem to be delivering, I was the first Conservative MP to ask for her resignation and a fresh approach in the negotiations.
I was made to feel very awkward by some of my colleagues who didn’t agree with my outspoken style in fighting for the democratic will of the people to be delivered. But we have a PM in Boris Johnson, who believes in Brexit and the opportunities it will present us with. The Prime Ministers deal has the endorsement of the ERG and the Star chamber led by Sir Bill Cash, who has poured diligently over the 1000 page document.
Boris has delivered: after winning the election in 2019, he secured a better Withdrawal Agreement and after a few days he had it approved by Parliament, after months of chaos and obstructionism. He has now secured the most ambitious trade deal with a third country the EU has ever made, guaranteeing zero-tariffs and zero-quotas trade in goods, giving certainty and great opportunity to our businesses.
We will truly take control of our borders and of our laws, terminating the jurisdiction in the UK of the Court of Justice of the European Union
We have a deal which respects all the red lines that we gave to our negotiators. I am grateful to them for their hard work with their EU colleagues to secure this deal. There has been a lot of tension on both sides, but now it’s the time to work together in friendship under this new arrangement. We are now free to determine our own destiny and to trade around the world.
It’s now time for all of us in our country to come together, unite and heal the past divisions.
