Dear John,
UK-EU Northern Ireland deal agreed
Now let's see this government do more to work
constructively and closely with our European friends
Northern Ireland has been the trickiest sticking point for the past
three Prime Ministers. Johnson tried bluster and threats and failed to
get a good deal. We never really had the chance to find out what Truss
would have done, though the international law-breaking Northern
Ireland Protocol Bill was her idea so we can have a guess.
And Sunak has, finally, tried constructive negotiation.
Which seems to have worked.
The details of the deal are not yet published, and our experts will
be poring over the text as soon as we can. Those of us who didn't want
Brexit in the first place might be forgiven for saying 'I told you
so', but that wouldn't be of any use to the businesses that are
struggling or the people of Northern Ireland who need their government
to work again, and it doesn't help us repair the damage done to
relations with Brussels and our neighbours.
Best for Britain and supporters like you have been working
and campaigning over the past year to push the UK Government into
behaving better and working constructively with the EU.
And we have succeeded.
It's your turn to do the same. Sign
the petition calling for the Government to work with the EU to keep
breaking down the barriers to trade and cooperation with
Europe.
Bolstered by the efforts of thousands of supporters who signed
petitions over the past year, contacted MPs and wrote to their local
papers, our team brought together a cross-party group of Lords and
worked with opposition parties in both Houses of Parliament to amend
and delay the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill.
This Bill would have given UK Ministers powers to break
international law and unilaterally decide to change UK laws without
MPs having any say. Not only did we have a huge problem with that, it
was a massive provocation to the EU who understandably felt it was a
sign that the UK couldn't be trusted to stand by its own
agreements.
Your campaigning helped create the political and diplomatic
space for constructive discussions to take place. Now those
of us who want to rebuild deeper ties with Europe need to stand up and
press this Government to do more, to continue working
constructively.
Add
your name to the petition and join the campaign for a deeper
relationship between the UK and EU that breaks down the barriers
Brexit put up between us.
We will keep you updated in the coming days as we understand more
about the deal.
Best wishes,
Naomi Smith
CEO of Best for
Britain
