April 9th 2020
Dear Friends and Supporters
There has been some grim news this past fortnight regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. We have hit a European record of daily deaths in the United Kingdom, with several leading Government figures having contracted symptoms of the virus. Our Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was admitted to intensive care at St Thomas’s Hospital in London on Sunday, and according to Downing Street today, Boris apparently 'continues to improve' after a third night in intensive care battling coronavirus. All our thoughts and prayers are for his continued improvement, and for all those who are ill, for them to also get better as soon as possible.
Boris, we really need you - our Prime Minister. “Get Well Soon Boris”, but make sure you are well and rested enough, before you return to work full-time.
Understandably, the advance of COVID-19, and the risk of mass infections, has led to Parliament being dismissed early for the Easter Recess. However, we would like to reiterate our stance. The Transition Period deadline must not be extended and we would like to express our concerns about the ongoing lack of news and progress updates about the Brexit negotiations – as well as news about all the other trade deals which are supposed to be in progress - such as the UK-USA Free Trade Agreement and those with Australasia for a start.
We heard this week from the Chief Brexit Negotiator, David Frost, that talks have been ongoing and the UK is adamant about sticking to its deadline of ending the Transition Period by December 31st 2020. This was confirmed by Boris Johnson – before his illness – and this date must be adhered to, or we Leave on WTO terms and anything else can be sorted out in due course, when the EU realise how much they need us.
We hold major concerns about why are these talks are being held in such secrecy – with no urgency and with limited detail about the subject matter. Most worrying is – nothing appears to be being discussed about a trade deal with the EU (which should be a huge priority for us). At the moment it mostly seems to be about all the stuff which has been laboured on for almost four years now. The good news is a full schedule for more negotiations will apparently be agreed next week between David Frost and the EU’s Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier, following a phone conversation they had earlier this week.
But why the delay so far? This is hardly negotiating “24/7” as Barnier promised in January of this year!
Yes, the COVID-19 situation may be causing problems, but with the latest technology put to proper use, by now this should not be a problem. Perhaps the Government should use the expertise of our security and military services to ensure communications are more secure – instead of allowing the EU to suggest they want to delay video-conferencing for security reasons, when it is apparent, from all the briefings I am currently receiving, the EU Council is already holding many video-conference meetings at the moment – every single day!
We, at Get Britain Out, are all adapting to working from home, doing our jobs and still bringing the heat to Government, just like we always have! So why can’t the negotiating teams do their jobs and negotiate the necessary trade deals for our global future!
It is now well over a month since the last official Brexit negotiations, so after the Easter holiday, the Government needs to scale-up operations to Get Britain Out ON TIME. Our negotiating teams are made up of hundreds of Civil Servants – and clearly not all of those are working on COVID-19 issues. Why aren’t they still working on preparing for trade negotiations – it does not all have to happen via lengthy and huge expenses-laden trips to foreign countries after all? It is bewildering, but if this is simply the EU constantly dragging their feet to try and force us into a delay, then we need to walk away and get ready for a World Trade Organisation exit.
The same goes for the EU-UK Joint Committee meetings, co-chaired by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Michael Gove and the European Commission Vice-President, Maroš Šefčovič. These meetings are meant to enforce agreements made in the Withdrawal Agreement. This Committee has met once, so far, since the end of January, and apparently, they have set up a series of 6 committees to continue negotiations - but at the first hurdle, they stall, with little to say to each other. Now, apparently, the main committee will not meet again until June – close to the next Summit. Surely the best way to ensure the smooth transition and implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement would be regular and detailed meetings. Not one-off gatherings where they try to cram everything into a short period of time with no results!
We also now know the EU is negotiating with Albania and Northern Macedonia on new accession talks as we speak. This is a blatant slap in the face from the European Commission, as why can’t they properly continue Brexit negotiations?! They only care about expanding their Union to deepen their pockets – and attempt to extort more money from us, by extending the Transition Period.
While the EU and the deep pockets of the ‘Remainers’ try to argue COVID-19 should lead to an indefinite extension of the Transition Period, the truth is the COVID-19 crisis has exposed the many failings of the EU and its supposed solidarity. Quite frankly, their approach to combatting the pandemic has been a disgrace.
Finally – for OVER TWO WEEKS – the EU Commissioners have been fighting amongst themselves over a plan to fund a response to help Member States counter the devasting effect the pandemic is having throughout the Union. All the while Italy and Spain have been on their knees trying to suppress the virus.
Yet, throughout all this, the EU have been busy funding some other countries’ COVID-19 responses - those being nothing to do with EU membership - Tunisia, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan (whose collective cases amount to just 2,126) and they are now preparing to send up to 20 billion Euros to African and Latin American countries! Clearly, the EU has its priorities utterly skewed. This is money which belongs to Member States – including the UK at the moment. Why on Earth is it not being returned to Member States so they can urgently help their own citizens.
Just a thought - we are sure throughout this pandemic, the Commission is bound to be splashing the cash to make sure their vintage wine cellar is always full!
Without any EU funding, both Italy and Spain have become victims of the most fatal outbreak in the world. Their frustration with the EU shows – particularly in Italy, where Italian leaders, including their Prime Minister – they are now revaluating their membership of the EU and forecasting its demise unless it reforms.
Thankfully, the UK’s freedom from some EU regulations have come in handy and we have spent BILLIONS on our own economic response, which has been far superior to any EU Member State. Leaving the EU in January was our saving grace. Freed from EU bureaucracy, we have been able to respond on our own accord. However, if we fail to Leave at the end of the Transition Period on December 31st 2020, we may find ourselves liable to help foot the bill for any Eurozone bailout which is needed in the aftermath of COVID-19.
We are also seeing a decay of democracy across the European Union - whether this is in protest at their abysmal handling of the pandemic, or Member States’ Governments being opportunistic given the circumstances. We need to use this as a warning and a remember - Brexit is far from over. Brexit is our democratic right and we must ensure it is implemented come December 31st. We must not let our democracy fade in these troubling times. We have an exceptionally talented Brexit-supporting Government as well as the British Bulldog Spirit. We can beat the COVID-19 pandemic and we can still Get Britain Out simultaneously.
Finally, we would like to dedicate this part of our e-Bulletin to our Prime Minister, Boris Johnson – currently in intensive care fighting Coronavirus. We would like to wish him the quickest of recoveries so he can resume the fine work he has been doing heading the Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading the nation and completing Brexit.
We are sending our best wishes to you, our supporters, your families and everyone else affected by the pandemic. We would like to express our appreciation and gratitude to the emergency services, NHS staff, carers and social workers who are fighting on the frontlines to keep us safe and healthy. Please please adhere to the Government’s advice and stay at home. We will beat this together.
WHAT WE HAVE BEEN UP TO:
IMPORTANT STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:
- UK-EU Trade Negotiations hit a wall as neither side can agree to a schedule to resume negotiations – The Independent
- ‘We HAVE left’ Rishi Sunak says Brexit cannot be stopped-UK to meet Barnier within days – The Daily Express
- The UK will still be subject to fees of the EU even if COVID-19 is the cause of extension – The Daily Telegraph
- The New EU budget won’t be a Corona-era ‘Marshall Plan’ – Politico
- Newly-elected Labour Leader, Sir Keir Starmer, refuses to learn or to rule out extension – Guido Fawkes
- Chief EU Brexit Negotiator David Frost reiterates claims there will be no extension to negotiations - CITYAM
- UK trade team to send more legal documents to the EU to move negotiations along next week – Reuters
- Sir John Redwood’s article on ‘Supply Chains and Interruptions to Output’ – Get Britain Out
- EU to provide 20 billion Euros for Africa and Latin America to fight coronavirus! – Yahoo News
- Italy’s Prime Minister states the EU could fail over outbreak response – BBC News
- Boris Johnson 'continues to improve' after third night in intensive care battling coronavirus, says Downing Street – The Daily Mail
That’s all for this e-Bulletin.
Best wishes from Jayne Adye, Campaign Director and the team at Get Britain Out – and keep yourselves safe.
P.S. Please don’t forget, we still need your help with donations to make sure we secure the best Brexit for the United Kingdom in the ongoing trade negotiations with the European Union and the rest of the world. The virus is a massive interruption to all our lives, and we really wish you well, but there is still a great deal to do to finalise our Leaving the EU and setting up the trade deals we all need for our global future. The EU may be ready to sink, and is clearly not supporting the EU Member States, so the quicker we are properly OUT, the better!
My team are now working from home to keep themselves and colleagues safe – and so am I. As difficult as this clearly is, we still need to pay for salaries, phone calls, our office and all other usual office costs – so we still need your help please.
Donations can be made via bank transfer, bank standing order, cheque or PayPal – all the details are HERE.
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PLEASE NOTE: Cheques should be payable to The EU Referendum Campaign Limited and not Get Britain Out please HERE.
Unfortunately, we cannot accept credit card donations (unless via PayPal) - or foreign currency cheques. With such a small team, we cannot personally thank all of those who donate to the campaign, but your contributions are very much appreciated. If you would like an acknowledgement, please let me have your e-mail address.
P.P.S. IMPORTANT: We know you are already committed to Brexit, but please continue to circulate this e-Bulletin to even more people. There are many who will also want to be more informed.
Anyone not already signed up for our free fortnightly e-Bulletins can do so HERE.
Remember, you can also get daily information and comments, plus press links, via our social media – Facebook and Twitter. There are also daily links to Brexit press articles on our website (once my staff are in the office Monday to Friday) via this link HERE. For updates on our Recommended Reading, you can find them via this link HERE.
Huge thanks again to everyone. GET BRITAIN OUT will continue to fight for as long as it takes to try and make sure we get the best relationship and Free Trade Deal with our close neighbours in the EU - as well as with countries around the world - for our UNITED KINGDOM’S GLOBAL FUTURE.
Best wishes, as always, Jayne
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