Daily Mail - 23.08.2019

Daily Mail, Friday, August 23, 2019 Page 13

ris to

deals

YES

,

THERE

WILL BE

BUMPS IN

THE ROAD

is no small responsibility and it must not

be shirked.’

Some Brexit supporters believe a free

trade deal with the US could help make up

for any reduction in trade with the EU.

Last year, Britain did almost half its

trade with the EU. The US accounted for

18 per cent of UK exports and 11 per cent

of imports.

[email protected]

in the country ...

Jez like Compo!

boots and navy blue raincoat bore all

the style of the shabby pensioner

played by the late Bill Owen in the

long-running sitcom.

During his visit to Rakefoot Farm in

Cumbria yesterday, Mr Corbyn

warned of the ‘pretty disastrous’

impact of a No Deal Brexit on British

agriculture, saying it ‘would result in

the loss of a huge export market’.

R

EcEnTLy, to my delight, I

received my new British

passport. Unlike its

predecessor, it requests

that I should be allowed to

travel freely in my capacity

as a citizen of the United

Kingdom of Great Britain and

northern Ireland.

All reference to the European Union

or European community, first

stamped on British passports in

1988, has been removed.

This adjustment, which the Home

Office began rolling out a few months

ago, may be Theresa May’s only

memorable achievement from her

three years in Downing Street, but I

applaud it nonetheless.

Some people – especially those who

oppose Brexit – will accuse me of being a

‘Little Englander’ for celebrating

this change.

But I happen to believe it’s important

that an identity document reflects the

facts, in this case by acknowledging in

print that all British passport bearers

are just that: British.

The significance of what is written

on the cover of our passports

feeds into a wider argument about

Brexit itself.

I have spent more than 25 years

campaigning for the UK to leave the EU.

In doing so, I have been motivated by

many things, the most crucial of which

is my desire for Britain to be independ-

ent again.

In other words, as far as I am con-

cerned, the EU question has always been

about something far more meaningful

than its impact on our economy.

We have our own flag, anthem, cur-

rency, and political and legal systems.

Millions of patriots made the ultimate

sacrifice in two World Wars, defending

precious freedoms championed by Brit-

ain for centuries.

To find ourselves in the 21st century

beholden to the whims of the EU’s une-

lected bureaucrats and foreign courts,

stuck in a straitjacket whose strings

have been pulled ever tighter over the

years, makes a mockery of everything

they fought for.

As I write, it appears possible (but only

possible) that Britain may finally escape

the EU’s clutches on October 31. If we do

exit the bloc by that date, it is likely that

we may do so without a deal.

Some doom-mongers seem to believe

that in this no Deal situation, Britain

would be finished.

E

ArLIEr this week, a leaked White-

hall dossier, called Operation yel-

lowhammer, purported to highlight

how Britain will be left vulnerable

without a deal.

It pontificated about a return of a hard

border in Ireland. It warned of shortages

of fuel, medicine and food, protests, road

blockades and ‘direct action’ – whatever

that meant.

While I have never disputed that

such a major disruption will inevitably

lead to short-term difficulties, the

contents of Operation yellowhammer

are baffling.

Its suggestion that the flow of our

goods could be halved in the event of a

no Deal Brexit is frankly laughable. Even

the German U-boats were not as useful

at lowering our levels of trade!

Of course, I have always been clear that

there would be bumps along the road.

But, as I have also always argued,

leaving the EU is about something

far more important and profound

than money.

On a fundamental level, it is about hav-

ing the self-confidence as a nation to

improve our quality of life – and to live

that life on our own terms.

Moving house is often disruptive, but

freedom of movement. Home Office

sources say that, after Brexit, EU

migrants with a criminal record could be

banned from the UK. Who among us

would not welcome fewer violent indi-

viduals turning up in our towns and cit-

ies to cause misery?

F

Or too long, Brexit has been the

thing which divides us as a society.

In many ways this is remarkable,

not least because a democratic

vote was held and a clear result was

achieved. (For the record, the majority

was in excess of 1.25 million.)

It is up to everybody to make the best

of this opportunity.

Past generations would have done so

without question. And future genera-

tions will not thank us if we continue to

waste it.

people do it to get to a better place. We

have taken the first step. now we must

carry on.

For too long, far too much emphasis

has been placed on the alleged disrup-

tion Britain faces if and when we leave

the EU without a deal.

If, for example, you listen to certain

anti-Brexit politicians in Westminster,

they will tell you that calais will come to

a standstill when Brexit is enacted, ham-

pering trade and wreaking havoc with

people’s livelihoods.

yet the man in charge of that French

port, Jean-Marc Puissesseau, has

denounced this as nonsense.

Indeed he has repeatedly stated that

calais is ready for a no Deal Brexit. He

thinks it will be business as usual. I know

who I believe.

Or consider another, more positive,

effect of Britain leaving the EU, this

time relating to the sensitive question of

He’s the architect of Brexit

— and still battling Project

Fear. But NIGEL FARAGE

makes this candid admission

about the threat of No Deal...

by Nigel

Farage