July 17th, 2020
Dear Friends and Supporters
The past two weeks have seen some victories for Get Britain Out and for Brexiteers. The Government has listened to our concerns and Brexit is firmly back on track. Following pressure from Get Britain Out, we are finally seeing more clarity from the Government on preparations for No Deal. More information is being released to the public and businesses about the changes we should expect. This comes in the form of £705million being committed to new border infrastructure and a new advertising campaign labelled: “The UK's new start: let's get going". For too long Remain campaigns and advocates of ‘Project Fear’ have been left to dominate the airwaves. This new campaign is of vital importance, offering businesses and the public clarity and assurances which should help them to properly prepare, shedding some light on the unknown and disproving false reports put out via the often Remain-biased media.
In another victory for Get Britain Out, the schedules for negotiations between the UK and the EU are once again being made public. This follows repeated letters from Get Britain Out to members of the Government demanding greater transparency. The public deserves to know what is being discussed on their behalf. A link to next week’s agenda for negotiations can be found at the end of this bulletin.
Before we go any further – and again, this request is very important:
Get Britain Out is very, very appreciative of the donations we have received so far - especially after our last few e-Bulletins, highlighting how much we need funding to continue the campaign until the end of the Transition Period on December 31st, 2020.
Unfortunately, most of the other Brexit campaigns have shut up shop, so, my small team and I are working harder than ever to make sure a real Brexit is still on the agenda and the voice of Brexiteers continues to be heard. Get Britain Out can only keep trying to get the Government’s attention - and winning victories for Brexiteers - if we continue our work, as we need regular financial assistance until the end of this year. To those of you who have already contributed, I cannot tell you how much it is appreciated.
Remain campaigners are as determined as ever, while their billionaire backers still push for an extension to the Transition Period. Just this week Tony Blair has re-appeared to claim a so-called ‘Implementation Period’ is the only way forward. This extension by another name would be disastrous and would force the UK into continued alignment to European Union laws. This fight won’t be over until we are fully out of the EU and there is much more to be done in the next few months.
I know these are tough times, but please can you dig into your pockets again – perhaps with a regular donation for these final few months so we can continue to run Get Britain Out until the end of this year (and yes, I really do understand not all of you cannot afford to do so – especially in these difficult times with COVID-19). If we fail to keep up the pressure on this Government, we may find ourselves tied to the EU indefinitely. Thank you.
|
|
Demonstrating exactly why we need to keep up the pressure to deliver a true Brexit, the last two weeks have seen the continuation of so-called ‘intensified’ negotiations between the UK and the EU. While they have been called ‘intensified’– the reality is very different. Talks which were billed as taking place ‘24/7’ have actually been taking place only 3 days a week. The only noteworthy news which has emerged is both Chief Negotiators - Michel Barnier and David Frost - dined together last week over chargrilled asparagus and a fillet of halibut! Seems to be a total lack of energy from both sides to come to any sort of Free Trade Agreement – even though the menu should have reminded them of the importance of fishing….
While Get Britain Out would wholeheartedly support a No Deal exit in the absence of a ‘good’ trade deal, the Government has been keen to say a Free Trade Agreement is possible. Surely if our negotiators can afford to work half a week, a Deal must be close – although hopefully the negotiating teams are working hard – 24/7 – behind the scenes! If this is the case, why are we not seeing any information about what results or compromises may have been reached. The lack of information in this area raises my concerns (and I am sure yours too…). We could be about to see another terrible deal (like the Withdrawal Agreement) which is being withheld from the public until the last minute. These ‘intense’ talks are meant to continue for the rest of July, despite the UK Parliament’s Summer Recess, which begins next Wednesday (July 22nd). Perhaps without MPs there to scrutinise, we will see the Government open up on what exactly has been going on.
Away from trade negotiations today (Friday) there has been the second meeting of the UK-EU Joint Committee, which is responsible for ensuring the Withdrawal Agreement is implemented. Again, on this issue there has been little progress with both sides simply agreeing there need to be detailed discussions on the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Our suggestion to the Government would be to throw much of the Withdrawal Agreement into the bin, or else we may end up tied into the EU for decades.
While Barnier may be enjoying his private dinners with Frost, the rest of the EU is in disarray when it comes to their response to COVID-19. The bloc has still not agreed their COVID-19 Recovery Fund, with the so called ‘Frugal Four’ (Netherlands, Sweden, Austria and Denmark) demanding the EU doesn’t overspend, whereas countries like Italy and Spain are demanding the proposed €750 billion package does not go far enough. Leaders of the 27 Member States are meeting today and Saturday in an attempt to come to some sort of agreement - however, a consensus isn’t guaranteed. The really good news here is that the UK has no financial liability for this money – as long as we Leave the EU entirely at the end of this year!
In comparison to the EU’s failure to act over this dreadful Pandemic so far and give Member States their own money back to help during this crisis, today Boris Johnson has announced a further £3 billion for the NHS to help prepare for a potential second wave of COVID-19 later this year. This money is on top of nearly £300 billion already spent by the UK Government in response to the crisis so far. It’s amazing how quickly a Government can act when they aren’t squabbling with 27 other countries!
This week has also seen the Government announce it intends to return nearly 100 individual powers to devolved the administrations of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. All of these powers are ones the UK has itself reclaimed from the EU and cover a wide range of topics including animal welfare, environmental standards and food packaging. This sounds like good news, however, the constantly pro-EU opportunistic SNP Leader, Nicola Sturgeon – First Minister of Scotland – has declared this as a power grab from Westminster, simply because the UK Government has not given the SNP more powers in Scotland. This is baffling when you think Sturgeon wants to Leave the United Kingdom and hand all of these powers back to Brussels. I don’t think she understands what being ‘independent’ really means.
Boris Johnson should send a message to Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP - it is about time they actually started to contribute to the UK, instead of constantly trying to play political games. It’s quite simple really - if they continue to demand increased amounts of money from Westminster (they already get more than every other country in the UK per head), then they need to stop constantly trying to undermine the integrity of the Union.
This week has also seen the row over migrant crossings from France to the UK continue. French boats continue to escort vessels across the Channel instead of turning them around and returning them to France – even if the boats are as close as 250 yards from the French coast. These are actions which the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, has described as totally unacceptable. The UK and France have now agreed to create a joint intelligence cell to try and resolve the matter, the only problem is reports suggest this will total only 16 people – i.e. only 8 officers from both the UK and France – hardly a show of force. This issue needs to be resolved urgently and the Home Secretary must take a firm stance to ensure those who enter this country illegally are returned to France.
While not Brexit related, we would also like to question some of the manipulation currently taking place to take advantage of schemes put in place to boost the economy. Most notable is the number of businesses not passing on the tax holiday which the Government has created by lowering VAT on hospitality from 20% to 5%. This reduction was meant to encourage more spending in restaurants and shops, not for businesses to recoup lost profit margins during the Pandemic. The Government must make sure the support schemes they have implemented are not taken advantage of as, after all, this is taxpayers’ money being spent – and every penny must be accounted for!
WHAT WE HAVE BEEN UP TO:
Director of Get Britain Out, Jayne Adye, has written the following recent articles:
IMPORTANT STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:
That’s all for this e-Bulletin. I hope you all have a very good weekend. The fight for a real Brexit is not over yet.
Thank you for your ongoing support which is very much appreciated.
Best wishes from Jayne Adye, Campaign Director and the Team at Get Britain Out.
P.S. Finally, please don’t forget, we really need your help with donations for the next few months as I have explained above, to make sure we can help to secure the best Brexit for the United Kingdom. Of course we appreciate all the help many of you have already given to the campaign, however, we are in the final few months of pushing for a good Brexit to be delivered, so now, more than ever – with other campaigns closing up shop and donations becoming scarcer – every penny counts if we are to continue our work.
Without your support we cannot run our campaign to keep up the pressure on the Government to listen to the will of the Great British Public.
We understand these are hard times, but for the next few months, if you can spare any extra money on a regular basis to keep this campaign going and to make sure there is still a strong voice for Brexit, then please donate whatever you can.
Donations can be made via bank transfer, bank standing order, cheque or PayPal – all the details are HERE. Re bank transfers - some banks have fraud contingencies in place - so please just make sure the account number and sort code are correct so your transfer goes through correctly.
|
|
PLEASE NOTE: Cheques should be payable to The EU Referendum Campaign Limited and not Get Britain Out.
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 (or write it on the back of your cheque).
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 still want more information.
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 for your help and support. GET BRITAIN OUT will continue to fight to try and make sure we get the best result from our Leaving the EU, as well as a GOOD Free Trade Deal with our close neighbours in the EU if possible. We can still Leave with No Deal on WTO terms – as well as being free to trade with countries around the world (as we already do with most other countries in the world) for our UNITED KINGDOM’S GLOBAL FUTURE.
Best wishes, as always,
Jayne
|
|
|
|
|
