Skip to main content
Banner image for The Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP

The Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP

MP for North Shropshire

Main navigation

  • Home
  • About Owen
  • News
  • Surgeries
  • In Parliament
  • My map
  • Contact
  • Campaign Responses
  • Coronavirus - volunteer to help
  • Coronavirus Advice

Brexit update 10th October 2019

  • Tweet

The recent prorogation of Parliament paves the way for a hugely overdue Queen’s Speech, laying out the Government’s plans, on 14th October.  The Speech must deliver a clear statement of how the powers and money we are getting back from the EU will be used to boost our economy and public services. The new government has promised to spend more on schools, the NHS and the police. It needs to show how this money will be spent so that we deliver the quality services the public expect.  

In the 2016 referendum voters were presented with an unambiguous choice to remain in the EU or to leave. The consequences of either decision were communicated by campaign groups through a variety of print, audio-visual and digital media. The Government also sent a document to every household in the UK on the benefits of staying in the EU.  
 
The leaflet, which was delivered to every household in the country, under the heading "a once in a generation decision" read: 
 
"This is your decision. The Government will implement what you decide." 
 
As the then Prime Minister, David Cameron said in his Chatham House speech on 10th November 2015: 
 
"This is a huge decision for our country, perhaps the biggest we will make in our lifetimes. And it will be the final decision. So to those who suggest that a decision in the referendum to leave would merely produce another stronger renegotiation and then a second referendum in which Britain would stay, I say think again. The renegotiation is happening right now. And the referendum that follows will be a once in a generation choice. An in or out referendum. When the British people speak, their voice will be respected - not ignored. If we vote to leave, then we will leave. There will not be another renegotiation and another referendum." 
 
The latest creed, that there is “no mandate” for a so-called “no deal” Brexit, simply does not stand up to the repeatedly and democratically expressed wishes of the electorate.  In 2017 the then Prime Minister made it clear that she would seek a free-trade deal, but that “no deal was better than a bad deal”.  This was confirmed on page 36 of the Conservative Party General Election Manifesto.  Both main political parties pledged at the General Election 2017 to respect the EU referendum result and these parties received more than 80 per cent of the vote. The Conservatives won more votes than any party for 25 years.

A Government was formed on the back of the promises made in the General Election to leave the Single Market, the Customs Union and the jurisdiction of the ECJ; leaving without a deal was a clear possibility. Most importantly, the House voted to enact Article 50 by 494 votes to 122 which was unambiguous in making no deal the default position.  MPs knew that by voting for this, the UK was legally bound to leave with or without a deal and this is the policy of the Prime Minister. 
   
Whatever your view of the decision, it must be accepted.  The process of implementing the decision in the best possible way must continue, not least to ensure that the British people maintain their faith in the political system to carry out the will of the majority.   

Remainers in Parliament have shown that there are no depths they will not plumb in their attempts to overrule the largest democratic verdict ever delivered in British history. We should be in no doubt that this is not about avoiding “no deal”. It is about keeping the UK in the EU and its failing customs union, to which UK goods exports in 2018 amounted to just 8.2% of our GDP last year. 

Their latest attempt, the EU (Withdrawal) (No. 2) Act seeks to ensure that the EU can extend the Article 50 deadline without limit and would force the Prime Minister to accept it. 

To break the current deadlock in the House of Commons the Prime Minister has made clear that his reluctant wish is to hold a general election.  Having agitated for an election for years, Labour have unprecedentedly turned the opportunity down twice. They have been utterly unable to form any coherent position on Brexit and it bodes disastrously should they ever be allowed to form a Government.

Faced with such a ludicrously dysfunctional Parliament, it is entirely understandable that the Prime Minister is seeking a fresh mandate as the surest means of breaking the impasse. When Boris Johnson spoke outside No 10, he was absolutely right that any further delay in our leaving would be completely unacceptable, fatally undermining trust in the integrity of our democratic institutions. Instead, he can go to the country to repeat his compelling message. The Withdrawal Agreement is dead but we continue to seek a zero-tariff, zero-quota Free Trade Agreement with the EU in the best interests of both sides. Even if the FTA is rejected, the 31st October deadline must be met. “No deal” is a complete misnomer. As Tony Abbott said recently, Australia does $100bn of trade with the EU every year on this very basis. Many practical side agreements have already been agreed. Planes will fly. Medicines will arrive. The Channel Tunnel will remain open.

The Prime Minister is devoting all his energy to ensure that we do get a deal with the EU and I support him in that endeavour but the preparations for leaving with no deal should continue.  

Whether you agree with my position or not, I hope that this is a helpful explanation of my sincere belief that leaving the EU is the right thing to do for our country and that we can make a real success of it.  

Campaign Responses

  • Asylum accommodation 22/02/2021
  • Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill 22/02/2021
  • Dementia and Coronavirus 08/02/21
  • Neonicotinoids 05/02/21
  • FFP3 Masks 02/02/21
  • Trade Deals 19/1/21
  • CAMRA Save Our Pubs Campaign
  • Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffee and Anoosheh Ashoori
  • Coronavirus: Closed Churches
  • Planning Reform
  • British Heart Foundation and Medical Research Charities
  • Free School Meals 27/10/2020
  • Immigration Bill: Family Reunion
  • Women and Equal Pay
  • MPs' Pay
  • Shelter's 'Building Our Way Out' Report
  • Immigration Detention Time Limit
  • Coronavirus: Maternity Care
  • 'Fire and Rehire' Tactics
  • Agriculture Bill: Animal Welfare and Trade
  • Breast Cancer
  • Coronavirus: Disabled Welfare
  • EU Negotiations
  • Coronavirus: Household Debt
  • Asylum Seekers Support and Employment
  • NHS Pay Rise
  • Global Wildlife Trade Ban
  • Protecting Girls in Crisis
  • Extension of Covid-19 Support Schemes
  • Fuel Duty
  • Medical Cannabis: Epilepsy
  • Proportional Property Tax Proposal
  • Israel: Peace Agreements
  • Coronavirus: Public Test and Trace
  • Air Quality
  • Pet Microchipping
  • Green Recovery
  • Pancreatic Cancer's No Time to Wait Campaign
  • Children's Health
  • Overseas Operations Bill
  • Asylum Support Payments
  • Internal Market Bill
  • Coronavirus: Vulnerable Christians
  • Wellbeing and Counselling in Schools
  • Disposable BBQs
  • Domestic Abuse Bill
  • Coronavirus: Ovarian Cancer
  • General Practice
  • Humanist Marriages
  • Adult Social Care
  • Sustainable Fishing - Super Trawlers
  • Coronavirus: Mental Health
  • Arthritis
  • Investor-State Dispute Settlement Mechanisms
  • Eco-Friendly Education Buildings
  • Legal Aid
  • Wildlife Licensing
  • Trade Deals
  • Persecution of Christians
  • Coronavirus: Travel Industry
  • Heat Pumps
  • Yemen
  • Low Income Countries: Debt Cancellation
  • EDM 529
  • Rough Sleeping
  • Coronavirus: Performing Arts
  • Black Curriculum
  • Coronavirus: Clinically Vulnerable Returning to Work
  • British Food Production Standards
  • FCO and DfID Merger
  • Mental Health: Face to Face Assessments
  • Coronavirus: Government backing for business
  • George Floyd, Black Lives Matter and export controls
  • Immigration Bill
  • Radiotherapy Services
  • PPE: Health and Social Care
  • Road Speed Limits
  • Fur Free Britain Campaign
  • Coronavirus: Asylum Support Payments
  • Israel the West Bank
  • 'No Recourse to Public Funds' Campaign
  • Trade Bill - US Free Trade Agreement
  • Illegal Wildlife Trade - EDM139
  • Trophy Hunting - EDM50
  • Environment Bill: OEP
  • Coronavirus: Free School Meals
  • Coronavirus: Trussell Trust's Proposed Emergency Income Support Scheme
  • Coronavirus: Abortion
  • Coronavirus: Childcare and Childminders
  • Environment Bill: Air Quality
  • Windrush Report
  • Universities and Antisemitism
  • Immigration Points System
  • EDM57 - Regulation of Social Networks
  • Coronavirus: Motor Nurone Disease
  • Horseracing: use of the whip
  • EDM 291 - Ban on war experiments on animals
  • Coronavirus: Iran Sanctions
  • Dementia Care
  • Agriculture Bill: Animal Welfare and Food Safety
  • Northern Ireland Abortion Framework
  • Animal Cruelty Sentencing
  • Gamebird Welfare
  • My letter to constituents regarding Government financial support for airlines
  • Voter ID
  • Brexit update 10th October 2019
  • 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration
  • Adults with eating disorders
  • Cycling and Walking
  • TV licence for over-75s
  • "People's Vote"
  • Arms to Saudi Arabia
  • Tax Cuts
  • Affordable Housing
  • Earthquakes and Fracking
  • Probate Fees
  • My letter to Constituents regarding the suspension of Parliament
  • Consumer Credit and "rip off loans"
  • Trafficked children
  • Trophy Hunting
  • Immigration Bill and the NHS
  • NHS Long Term Plan
  • Puppy Smuggling
  • Assisted Dying event 11th December
  • Caging of pheasants and partridges
  • Beer Duty
  • Sex-selective abortion
  • Dying at Home
  • Rohingya Children
  • Footpaths
  • BBC impartiality
  • Defend Israel
  • Ban Al Quds and Hezbollah
  • Stand Up for Nature
  • Communities vs Blood Cancer
  • Homelessness
  • Horses on the road
  • Horse tethering
  • Fracking
  • Offensive Weapons Bill and shop workers
  • Royal Commission on Policing
  • FIxed Odds Betting Terminals
  • DVLA and diabetes monitoring technology
  • Future trade deals
  • Housing Regulator
  • Stop Christophobia campaign 21/05/19
  • The Abuse of Children and Civilians by Hamas
  • Live Exports
  • Cost of Medicines
  • Plastic pollution in UK rivers
  • Eating disorders
  • Forced abortion
  • Cancer Treatment - Coronavirus

Owen Paterson MP MP for North Shropshire

Footer

  • About RSS
  • Accessibility
  • Cookies
  • Privacy
  • About Owen
  • Constituency
Promoted by Nick Bardsley, on behalf of Owen Paterson, both of NSCA, Suite 2, 16b Church Street, Oswestry, SY11 2SP
Copyright 2021 Owen Paterson MP MP for North Shropshire. All rights reserved.
Powered by Bluetree