Dear Sir,
Can we have some truth about Brexit, at the last election I campaigned for the re-election of our sitting MP Phil Wilson I campaigned not just in Newton Aycliffe but throughout the Constituency of Sedgefield. On the doorstep I got the same answer why they would not vote Labour, one was Jeremy Corbyn, the other was Brexit. I want to concentrate on the second issue which is Brexit.
It now seems likely that we will leave without a deal which was against what I said, that before we leave we should see what is in the deal which Boris said during the election campaign he had an oven ready deal.
Now we find that there is no such deal and on information from the consumer association magazine “Which” who have reported that the price of cars will rise, some by over £1000. We now know that jobs will disappear when firms like Honda will pull out of the UK with the loss of 3500 jobs, who is going to fill the void of these job losses? The question I ask is how many more jobs are to go before people realise the mistake they have made?
There is a lot of gloom surrounding the post Brexit trade talks between the UK and the EU and at the moment, but they were never going to be easy. UK left the EU on the 31st January and entered a transition period until the end of the year. On the 1st January 2021 things are going to change, and time is running short to agree a new trade deal before then.
The tasks have been overshadowed by the Covid – 19 crisis especially at the beginning when the talks had to take place via video link. But that is not the only reason that big disagreements remain after seven rounds of negotiations. It’s mainly a matter of substance.
If a free trade deal does emerge, it won’t be a particularly ambitious one. There hasn’t been time to go for much more than the basic model, the main issue I would ask is “what do our politicians want from the UK, and EU want? Next year jobs will go because we will lose some 43% of UK exports, no deal will result in not having any formal agreement with the EU.
It is also worth remembering that negotiations are not just about trade. There are important talks, for example about police and security co-operation as well. The UK wants to maintain the same access to shared databases that it has now, but the EU says that isn’t on offer to non-members.
But if trade talks fall apart don’t expect much meaningful agreement on anything else. The EU isn’t perfect but change it from within not on the outside.
Vince Crosby
