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Sunday 13 September 2020

Will Internal Market Bill Bring Down Talks with EU?

by Louise Mclean

David Frost has now finished the 8th week of talks with Monsieur Barnier, attempting to seal a trade deal with the EU but going nowhere it seems.  Roadblocks are present on fishing and state aid, which Barnier has made a precondition for a trade deal.  The EU still thinks it can carry on fishing in our territorial waters and meddling in our affairs and seem unable to grasp the fact that since 31st January 2020 we are now a sovereign country.

Their little plan to keep control of the UK via the Northern Ireland Protocol has been scuppered with this week's announcement of the UK Internal Market Bill, which was published on 10th September and will be voted on next week.  When the EU got wind of this, they went ballistic!

Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland Secretary, was taking questions about the Bill in the House last Tuesday and rather rashly said that we would in fact be breaking international law 'in a very specific and limited way', i.e. the Withdrawal Agreement, which Michael Gove, in charge of No Deal Brexit preparations, has refuted.

However, top lawyer Martin Howe QC, Chairman of Lawyers for Britain and EU law expert, has argued this is NOT the case at all.  He states that as a sovereign country, we are entitled to create our own laws to defend our national interest and this is made clear in Section 38 of the Withdrawal Agreement Act.

Mr. Howe also points out that the 1707 Articles of Union between England and Scotland and those between Great Britain and Ireland in 1800, abolished all customs duties between the different parts of the UK. This meant that citizens of all parts of the UK should be 'on the same footing in respect of trade and navigation, and in all treaties with foreign powers'. 

Northern Ireland has been the little trick the EU wanted to pull off from the start to keep its hold on the UK, keeping Northern Ireland in its Customs Union by creating a border down the Irish Sea but this Bill prevents it from doing so.

The Internal Market Bill states that all goods produced in the United Kingdom (including Northern Ireland), should be treated equally.  It also protects from potentially damaging interference by the EU, ending the application of EU law in the UK, because the Northern Ireland Protocol potentially gave the EU a great deal of power to interfere with not just Northern Irish goods but goods exported from the rest of the UK as well.

So the EU has been issuing threats and demands, absolutely furious their little game for Northern Ireland could be ruined!  They have been threatening legal action but as mentioned above, top legal experts say they have no case.  EU top brass have been demanding parts of the new Bill be removed within a few weeks but so far this has been refused.  

We have been bullied for far too long! The EU have shown themselves to be absolutely impossible to negotiate with. They are sclerotic in their approach and would have Britain in a straight jacket before they are satisfied.  They also cannot stand the idea that we will be prosperous and successful without them. Brexiteers' patience is finally snapping completely and there have been plenty of rows from Remainers.

The truth is that according to John Longworth, Chairman of the Independent Business Network and a staunch Brexiteer, we only actually export 13% of our GDP and 8% of businesses including supply chains to the EU. The amount of trade we do with them has been falling for some time.  We have been trading on WTO already with many countries in the world.

Today we learn that Boris is thinking of finding new markets outside the EU, if they continue with their threats for passing the Internal Market Bill.  This will seriously impact the sale of EU goods to the UK, which are massively greater than ours to them. 

Next week Parliament will be voting on the new Bill and although about 30 Tory MPs and Labour will vote against it, Boris has a 80 seat majority and the DUP will support it.

In fact the European Research Group (ERG) and senior cabinet MPs are seriously suggesting that Boris repeals the Withdrawal Agreement Act altogether, due to its many pitfalls.  Not just problems with Northern Ireland, but others including the fact that we would be liable to bail out the EU if it goes bust!!  The other reason to tear up the WA, is because apparently even if we walk away with No Deal and go on to WTO rules, it will still be in force and in law.

Of course there are squeals of indignation coming from the likes of Blair and John Major, two dedicated Globalists and also from Labour leader Keir Starmer.

The trouble is the longer we leave this mess without sorting it out, the more chance Remainers and the EU get to think up new ways to stop us leaving properly. The EU has taken charge for so long, it simply cannot understand why this will not be continuing.  

Now Boris Johnson must be really bold and do what is necessary to get us out, even if there is screaming and shouting from the opposition.  The British people overwhelmingly voted to completely leave the European Union and we will applaud Boris if he can get it done right!


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