Steve
Barclay, Brexit Secretary, speaking today at Conservative Party Conference in
Manchester, said:
“Delaying
Brexit has come at a cost.
It
has cost us trust in our democracy.
For
those who voted in good faith at the last General Election; who believed the
promises of MPs who said they would honour our vote to leave the EU.
And
it has a massive financial cost – in extra payments to the EU.
It
costs an extra £1 billion in payments to Brussels every month we delay.
And
how much has this delay cost us in lost opportunities?
The
very opportunities which we voted for – to lower living costs by forging new
trade deals around the world.
With
so much delay, is it any wonder my friend Jacob has taken to lying down on the
government front bench.
But
there has been one, immediate cost from delaying Brexit…
The
prolonged uncertainty has caused worry and concern to over 3 million EU
Citizens living in the UK.
For
those EU citizens living here, I have a direct message today.
You
are not a part of the negotiation. Your life and livelihood in the UK is not in
doubt.
The
Prime Minister set out in his first hour in office, on the steps of Downing
Street, that we want you to stay.
To
bring up your families in our communities…
To
work in our public services and for our businesses…
In
our NHS – where there are now 700 more EU doctors than at the time of the
referendum.
We
value the contribution you make to our country and are pleased that you have
chosen to make your home here.
We
have guaranteed your rights to live, work and stay in the UK with full citizens
rights for as long as you choose.
Now
it is time for the EU to match that guarantee.
We
are all too familiar with the refrain ‘despite Brexit’.
Yet,
despite Brexit, we have record low unemployment… and the highest inward
investment of any country in the EU.
Despite
Brexit, just last week, London overtook New York to become THE world’s number
one city for investments in fintech firms…
And
despite Brexit, Jaguar Land Rover have opened the UK’s biggest state-of-the-art
car design centre in Warwickshire, delivering a £500m vote of confidence in
Britain.
It’s
time to stop apologising for Brexit, and to unleash the opportunities it
offers.
We
can source products that we do not produce at a better price.
Too
often the EU restricts access to markets that want to trade with us…
Like
the foods that we do not grow, or the goods that we do not specialise in
producing,
With
new trade deals with other countries we can help the developing world through
trade, rather than handing out aid.
To
empower countries through free trade is the essence of being Conservative, and
an important reason why I am a Brexiteer.
To
use Brexit as a catalyst for change across all parts of our United Kingdom,
including areas like my own in the Fens…
Who
see Brexit as an opportunity – not a problem to be solved.
Jeremy
Corbyn parades his credentials as an animal welfare campaigner.
But
his delay prevents any sovereign choice on the continued live exports of
animals.
He
claims to care about the planet, yet his delay to Brexit means we can’t choose
to remove VAT on environmental products like solar panels.
His
delay prevents us from implementing a new Agriculture Bill designed for our
British farmers rather than the French.
Delay
also means less time to focus on our people’s priorities.
It’s
the Conservatives who want to get Brexit done so that we can focus on what the
people want to see.
The
biggest increase in spending on the NHS…
Tackling
crime through the extra 20,000 police officers…
Levelling
up opportunity, including on school funding…
And
delay puts our United Kingdom at risk..
Encouraging
the Scottish Nationalists that if one referendum can be ignored, then so too
can the 2014 referendum on the integrity of the UK itself.
We
will defend the Union – because we are the Conservative and Unionist Party.
And
what do Labour want to have more delay on Brexit for?
They
cannot even count the vote at their conference on what they want to do… and
it wasn’t even Diane Abbott doing the counting.
Remain?
Sit
on the fence?
Keep
it a secret until after the election?
Labour
don’t trust the people and that is why the people cannot trust them.
Labour
ignore the votes of the many, because they prefer to listen to the opinions of
the North London few.
Their
position is to negotiate Brexit and then to scrap it.
That
would demolish the UK’s negotiating position.
And
what would they do once they had negotiated this fantasy ‘better’ deal?
As
the Shadow Foreign Secretary herself has made clear, they would bring it back
and have an unwanted and divisive second referendum, where they would campaign
for Remain against their own deal.
Labour’s
Brexit policy can be summed up in three words: dither and delay.
And
look at the so-called Liberal ‘Democrats’.
They
want to revoke Article 50 without even letting you have a say.
The
Lib Dem position is now so extreme that it has even been rejected by the Green
Party.
The
Irish Deputy Prime Minister said on Wednesday that “there are solutions to this
but it is a matter of political will”.
I
agree.
The
Commission has said that it is open to “creative and flexible solutions on the
border in Northern Ireland”.
I
am too.
President
Juncker said “he is not wedded to the backstop”.
Nor
are we. So let’s abolish it.
The
Prime Minister and I are focused on negotiating a deal.
But
if we can’t get a deal, we’ll leave on 31 October anyway.
Michel
Barnier once said that “the clock is ticking”.
For
Jeremy Corbyn – the election clock is now ticking very loudly.
Our
communities should not have to pay millions for each further hour of his delay.
We,
as Conservatives, know it’s your money that he would waste.
We
need to get Brexit done. And with this Prime Minister, we will.”
ENDS
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