The spectacle of a British prime minister scuttling back and forth to Brussels, cap in hand, displaying a desperate desire for a Brexit deal with the EU, is a shameful betrayal of the people’s decision in the 2016 referendum.
At home we’re subjected to Project Fear II, with the same dire warnings from the same old voices, now bitter in defeat, that we heard last year: that there will be Armageddon unless we give in to EU demands. They were proved wrong then, and they are wrong now. Of course, most MPs voted Remain, and want to somehow reverse the decision to Leave. They, with the Labour Party – “we respect the democratic decision to Leave” – are handing weapons to the EU to undermine Britain. This is treachery.
And as for the banks, let them threaten. Goldman Sachs might leave Britain? Off you go.
What does the EU want?
They want money from us, plenty of it, because they are afraid of how they will cope with the loss of the vast British payments into their coffers. If we promise money now, they come back for more, and more, and more.
Uncertainty
The EU wants to force Britain into a transitional period, as long as possible, to prolong uncertainty here, weaken our economy, and give banks and financial institutions time to decamp.
They treat us with autocratic contempt and insults – of course they do – exactly like they did with Greece. It’s been dubbed diplomatic waterboarding. But we’re not Greece and we need to show them why.
We don’t need a trade deal. We trade with the US, our largest trading partner, under World Trade Organization rules, without a trade agreement. In fact, the EU’s intended trade deal with the US – the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP – was opposed here by many who now want a trade deal with the EU. Why? Ask the question and you encounter vague mentions of British jobs. Ask again and the argument falls apart.
Who needs it?
No wonder voices here have grown saying the best deal is no deal. With the government at last talking of preparing for no deal, and a Sky poll finding 74 per cent feel no deal is better than a bad deal, the EU has become strangely conciliatory. They need a deal. We don’t.
British negotiators should now withdraw all concessions made so far, return home, and prepare to leave the EU to trade under WTO rules while we plan for an independent future. If the EU wants to make offers, we’ll consider them, but from strength not weakness.
In its history Britain has been prepared to assert its sovereignty and stand up to foreign tyranny. We must do so again.