January 17th 2020
Dear Friends and Supporters
We hope you had a lovely Christmas – and our best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year, looking forward to Brexit. We have been busy moving offices, and we are back and ready to continue the fight to get the best deal for the United Kingdom by the end of December this year. Unlike some Brexit campaigns, Get Britain Out is not going anywhere. The fight for Brexit does not end at 11pm on January 31st - if anything this is when the real fight begins. Being out of the EU means nothing if the UK ends up tied into a bad trade deal, one which ties us into EU regulations and organisations such as the Common Fisheries Policy, for decades to come. Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has said he does not want these things, however, as we all disappointingly know well, Theresa May made all sorts of promises when she first became PM and look what happened to those! It’s time for Boris to prove our fears wrong!
The largely Remain establishment must not get away with watering down Brexit with complicated trade deals whilst nobody is looking. We will fight for what we voted for until we either see a good free trade deal agreed with the EU - on time - or the UK walks away from negotiations and trades with the EU on ‘No Deal’ World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms. No matter what - we must take back control of our money, borders, waters and laws completely and permanently.
The EU have already started playing negotiating games, wheeling out their spokespeople, including Michel Barnier (the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator) and Ursula von der Leyen (the new President of the European Commission, who replaced Jean-Claude Juncker), to claiming it is impossible for a trade deal to be agreed between the UK and the EU before the December 31st 2020 deadline. However, despite this supposed impossible schedule, the EU have declared negotiations on a trade deal cannot start until March. So much for von der Leyen saying they will be working day and night on this – they only want to begin a full month after the Transition Period will have started. It’s not as if this has been sprung on them – they have simply been in denial, and need to get themselves sorted out – and fast.
Perhaps if they stopped complaining, things could move more quickly! After all, the EU told us it would be impossible to re-open the Withdrawal Agreement or take out the Irish Backstop, yet here we are with the Backstop replaced and the Withdrawal Agreement changed. All of which happened in a number of weeks.
Boris Johnson, on the other hand, has been keen to kick off negotiations as soon as possible with - not just the EU - but other countries as well, making it clear he intends to begin trade negotiations with, among others, the United States of America on February 1st. This is exactly the right attitude. The closer we are to trade deals with other countries, the stronger our hand gets in negotiations with the EU.
Unsurprisingly, in line with the EU’s snail’s pace approach, UK Civil Servants are being accused of deliberately slowing down post-Brexit preparations. This is something we could all see coming after scores of Whitehall bureaucrats were key cogs in the organisation of ‘Project Fear’ during the 2016 Referendum and ever since. Recent blockages to progress have been highlighted by former International Trade Secretary, Dr Liam Fox as well as by Dominic Cummings, Boris’s chief strategist.
All of these stories only cement in our minds the need for drastic reform in Whitehall, with departments needing to be closed or merged and a far greater level of scrutiny placed on the quality of work done by many Civil Servants.
The EU’s latest hard-line approach to emerge is the demand for Britain to give up control of our fishing waters as a price to pay for any trade deal. To concede to this would be an insult to British fishing communities who voted Leave based on promises to ‘Take Back Control of our Waters’ – remember the pictures of demonstrations on the River Thames, with Nigel Farage throwing fish into the water to show the sheer waste the EU’s policy causes? If the EU continues with this kind of blackmail, the UK must not give in. With a majority in Parliament, Boris has the backing he needs to take a tough approach in these negotiations and, if necessary, walk away on ‘No Deal’ WTO terms.
If you recall, we asked you to countersign our last letter to the Prime Minister, which we sent on December 17th – a month ago today. Thank you to all those who e-mailed me your agreement during the pre-Christmas rush. We again pointed out the 5 vital issues Boris still needs to deal with in the Brexit negotiations. Well, we haven’t received a reply, but we won’t give up and we are sending Boris another letter – see the letter and this graphic in the links below, as these issues are vitally important. We will tell you if Boris replies to this one!
With all the information and misinformation flying around about what to expect this year, Get Britain Out has created this 2020 Brexit Timeline to clarifying things for you, our supporters. So you can save it, or print it out and give to your friends, there’s a link at the end of this e-Bulletin.
Meanwhile, the Labour Party has continued to go round in circles with Jeremy Corbyn still in power as Leader, and the race to replace him is inspiring nobody. All the Leadership candidates are still backing Remain – refusing to support any form of Brexit, despite the very clear mandate given to Boris Johnson. If any of them want to win an election in the next 10 years then they need to take a serious look at their Party’s policies and get back in touch with their traditional voters, instead of being obsessed with pleasing their London-centric metropolitan membership.
Talking of elections, Ireland will have a General Election with the results announced on February 8th. This comes at a time when the current Irish PM, Leo Varadkar, is on the back foot in the polls and under pressure following his poor handling of the Brexit negotiations. Hopefully, we will see EU-obsessed Varadkar replaced by someone more willing to have adult conversations - country to country - instead of hiding behind the coat tails of those in Brussels. The UK and Ireland should be having serious discussions about trade and resolving the border issue without involving the EU’s federalist sycophants, but this would need serious participants on both sides!
Away from Brexit, but still of great concern, has been the debate over the UK’s decision on whether to utilise Chinese technology company Huawei to create and build the UK’s new 5G network. However, American officials have made it clear that should the UK involve Huawei in their 5G plans, it could compromise intelligence-sharing between the UK and the US, especially with the vital 5 EYES intelligence alliance, compromised of the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. This is a time when the UK must not compromise the existing relationships we have with old allies, such as the US, so the Government should focus instead on delivering good quality 3G and 4G, as well as fibre-optic internet to the whole of the United Kingdom, before worrying about 5G.
With January 31st just around the corner, and the start of the official Transition Period, we would like to thank all of our supporters for their dedication over the last 3 years, helping to get us to this moment since the EU Referendum. I have been working on this for 10 years – so far! Many of you have also sent us donations, and for these we are truly grateful. You may have seen the recent attempts to get Big Ben to Bong for Brexit at 11pm on January 31st. We, as a campaign, believe it’s outrageous the Government is not backing the idea - and yes, while a recording could do the job, the symbolism of our famous Big Ben being revived to celebrate such a momentous occasion as the UK Leaving the EU (while realising we still have a great deal to do), would send a far more powerful message of pride right across the country and around the world, to celebrate the expansion of our global future outside the EU. While the crowdfunding attempts are very impressive, it should not be necessary. It has now emerged that even if the ridiculously inflated cost of £500,000 (which is 30 times the cost of bonging Big Ben on New Year’s Eve) was raised by the public, the Remain-controlled House of Commons Commission will not accept the money, even though this was the PM’s idea in the first place. It makes the whole issue a farce.
There is also a link to the crowdfunding page, set up by Mark Francois MP, below. If donations are not accepted by Parliament, they will, apparently, be sent to Help for Heroes.
Nevertheless, if you want to celebrate our Leaving the EU in London, Nigel Farage and Leave Means Leave are organising a celebration in Parliament Square - despite attempts by the Remainer London Mayor, Sadiq Khan - you can sign up for more information in the links below.
Get Britain Out hopes even if you can’t make it to London, you enjoy a celebration of your own, taking pride in this momentous occasion.
WHAT WE HAVE BEEN UP TO:
- Click HERE to read our latest letter to Boris Johnson.
- Click HERE to find a printable version of our 5 Key Areas for Boris Johnson to focus on graphic.
- Click HERE to find a printable version of our 2020 Brexit Timetable graphic.
- Joshua Mackenzie –Lawrie of Get Britain Out has written for The Commentator analysing the Brexit dividend if we take back regulatory control.
IMPORTANT STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:
- If you want to donate to help Big Ben Bong HERE is the link to the GoFundMe page, set-up by Mark Francois MP which has currently raised £225,000.
- Nigel Farage’s Leave Means Leave has been given approval to hold an event in Parliament Square on January 31st 2020. Sign up through the link - BrexitCelebration
- Big Ben FARCE: Brexiteers left furious as Remainers blamed for Brexit bong block – The Daily Express
- Farmers to be paid to protect the environment as Ministers unveil 'landmark' post-Brexit agriculture plan replacing EU’s Common Agriculture Policy. This is what ‘Taking Back Control’ looks like! - PoliticsHome
- UK 'should be Ireland's best friend' after Brexit - BBC News
- EU trade chief foresees 'financial services for fishing' Brexit bargain - The Guardian
- John Bercow billed taxpayer £1,000 for taxi to deliver speech and £12,000 for staff retirement parties - The Daily Telegraph
- Brexit risks being sabotaged by meddling pro-EU Civil Servants – Dr Liam Fox’s warning to Boris – The Daily Express
- UK Financial Firms' Sentiment Improves for First Time in Four Years-Survey - The New York Times
That’s all for now. Best wishes from Jayne Adye, Campaign Director and the Team.
P.S. IMPORTANT: We know you are already committed to Brexit, but please continue to circulate this e-Bulletin to even more people, many of whom also want to be more informed. Please encourage all your family and friends to support Get Britain Out, as we have much more to do before we LEAVE the EU. Anyone not already signed up for our free fortnightly e-Bulletins can do so HERE WE HAVE NOT WON THE BATTLE YET!
ALSO: Please don’t forget, we really need your help with donations to make sure we secure the best Brexit for Great Britain and the best free trade deal – or a ‘NO DEAL’ on WTO terms if the EU messes us around. Unfortunately, we cannot do this without money, so any donations would be very much appreciated. Every £ counts. Thank you to everyone who is able to help, although we realise it is not possible for everyone.
Donations can be made via bank transfer, bank standing order, cheque, or PayPal – all the details are HERE.
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Cheques should be payable to The EU Referendum Campaign Limited and not Get Britain Out please. Unfortunately, we cannot accept credit card donations (unless via PayPal) or foreign currency cheques. With such a small team, we are 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 provide your e-mail address.
A MASSIVE thank-you, as always, to everyone who helps us try and secure the Best Brexit for our nation. We will not stop our work until we are completely free of the constraints of the EU. With a small team, we are unable to answer queries at length, so if you do send us brief comments, they should be sent to [email protected], we can only reply briefly, but if it is urgent, please put URGENT in the Subject Line.
Huge thanks again to everyone. GET BRITAIN OUT will continue to fight for as long as it takes to make sure we get the best Deal for our GLOBAL FUTURE.
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