Rebel backbench leader Jacob Rees-Mogg and resigned Brexit secretary David Davis presented a paper addressing the “imagined” problems and roadblocks to Brexit Tuesday morning, which they said gives “practical answers” on how to leave the European Union without surrendering sovereignty.
Speaking in Westminster on Tuesday, members of the European Research Group — the Conservative organisation of backbench Eurosceptic Members of Parliament — and of Global Britain presented ‘Fact — NOT Friction’.
The paper addresses many claims that have been made during the Brexit negotiation process and challenges the “imaginary and… exaggerated” problems associated with leaving the European Union completely, pointing to the trade the UK conducts with the rest of the world already, and how those well-developed practices could be applied to the EU without disruption.
Mr Davis addressed the concerns over the impact of so-called Just in Time business practices, which sees shipments of needed parts arrive when they are needed rather than being held in warehouses nearby for future use, stating during the press conference that worries were overblown as “a large amount… for our industries comes from outside the European Union now” without problems.
A fifth of components imported for the UK car building industry already come from outside of the European Union, according to the ERG paper, and arrive successfully on time and are subject to customs procedures “that do not cause problems supposed to be likely when applied to future imports from the EU”.
Commending the document, Davis continued: “This is an answer not just to the technical economic problems, but to the political problems, the answer to the Northern Irish issue… is similarly straightforward as you’ll see in respect to customs issues. This paper goes right to the heart of two of the largest problems the government imagines it sees in a deal with the European Union.”
“What it shows, very clearly, is that there are practical answers to the issues of leaving the European Union. They do not require us to give up our sovereignty, they do not require us to give up our freedom, do not require us to stay inside the Customs Union forever. They actually allow us to be a free country once more.”
The paper also emphasises the ease with which Britain will be able to trade with the European Union after a hard, full Brexit — the kind Prime Minister Theresa May has worked to avoid and in doing so has created a “betrayal” deal which critics say will reduce the UK to the “vassal status” of a colony to Brussels.
Quoting the chairman of the European logistics and customs association, the report notes: “All the ingredients to ensure a smooth exit process of the UK from the EU and which allow almost frictionless trade after the exit, are already available [in the Union Customs Code].”
Oliver JJ Lane is the editor of Breitbart London — Follow him on Twitter and Facebook
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