Sir Roger Gale
Member of Parliament for Herne Bay and Sandwich (including West Thanet)
Statement from Sir Roger Gale, MP (North Thanet)
October 17th 2019
Roger has this morning given a `cautious welcome` to reports of a new deal on Brexit. “We shall need to study the fine print carefully” says Roger ” and of course any revised Withdrawal Agreement l will have to secure the elusive majority in the House but if an agreement has been reached that can prevent us from crashing out of the EU with damaging consequences then that is good news”.
A new deal: getting Brexit done and taking back control
· The Prime Minister has negotiated a new deal – a Brexit deal which ensures that we take back control.
· This deal ensures that we take back control of our laws, trade, borders and money without disruption, and provides the basis of a new relationship with the EU based on free trade and friendly cooperation.
· This is a deal which allows us to get Brexit done and leave the EU in two weeks’ time, so we can then focus on the people’s priorities and the country can come together and move on.
· We will leave the EU’s Customs Union as one United Kingdom and be able to strike trade deals all around the world.
· The Prime Minister has negotiated a new deal so that we can respect the referendum result and get Brexit done on 31 October, without disruption and in a friendly way.
Put simply, this new deal means:
1. Britain is out of all EU laws. We will be able to change our laws in a huge number of areas – from product standards to fishing rules to farming subsidies – where we are currently bound by EU rules.
2. We will be able to strike our own free trade deals. We will have an unqualified right to strike our own trade deals around the world, and the whole UK will participate in them.
3. European Court supremacy ends in Britain. It will be our courts, applying our laws, which will be the highest authority in the land.
4. We will be in control of our taxes. We will be able to change VAT rules and other tax laws that are currently determined by Brussels.
5. Northern Ireland will be in the UK customs territory forever. There is now no doubt that Northern Ireland remains part of the UK’s customs territory and will benefit from the free trade deals we strike.
6. The anti-democratic backstop has been abolished. The people of Northern Ireland will be in charge of the laws that they live by, and – unlike the backstop – will have the right to end the special arrangement if they so choose.
Northern Ireland
· There will be a special arrangement for Northern Ireland, reflecting the unique circumstances there. We will guarantee – and reinforce – the peace process and avoid any issues at the border.
· Northern Ireland will have no hard border with the Republic or Great Britain, and will remain forever part of the UK customs territory. Northern Ireland will have access to the Single Market, but also be part of UK trade deals negotiated around the world.
· Crucially, this arrangement will be underpinned by the principle of democratic consent, through the ability to leave the special arrangement via a democratic vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly.