Pat McFadden - Jobs and economy must be Brexit priority
Wolverhampton South East MP Pat McFadden backed the Remain campaign in the EU referendum. One year on he says the economy must be the priority in the Brexit talks.
A year ago the United Kingdom took the decision to leave the European Union.
But leaving isn’t an overnight event.
It’s a process that will dominate our politics for years with big implications for trade, security, the rights of UK and EU citizens and other fields.
And following the spectacular failure of the Prime Minister’s election gamble we begin our most important negotiation since the war with a weakened Government, a Prime Minister stripped of any authority within her own party let alone in the wider country and a divided Cabinet.
The biggest real effect of Brexit so far has been a sharp fall in the value of the pound.
Other than that we have been in a period which is post decision but pre actually leaving, characterised by statements from Ministers about what Brexit should be like: no more payments to the EU, an end to the free movement of EU labour, securing the same benefits in trade as we have now but without the European Court of Justice overseeing the rules, and so on.
There is only one problem with this approach – it talks about Brexit as if there was only one side to this negotiation. But this is a negotiation between us and the remaining 27 EU members.
The outcome will be what is agreed between the two sides, not a wish list from one side or the other.
The first example of that came last Monday when the UK Government had to drop its demand – repeated four times in the Article 50 divorce letter - that the future trade agreement with the EU be decided alongside the divorce terms.
The talks will be about the withdrawal terms first – the divorce bill (never mentioned in the referendum), citizens’ rights and the Irish border – and future trade only after sufficient progress on that agenda.
But if we reach agreement on these issues, what should be the priorities going forward?
For me it’s about prosperity and security. It’s about the jobs, living standards and prosperity of the people I represent.
Many of my constituents in Wolverhampton South East already struggle to make ends meet.
They work hard to pay their bills and have as good a future as possible for their families.
That’s why I believe the economy must be the top priority in the Brexit talks.
We should be aiming for a trading arrangement as close as possible to the market access we already have – without tariff OR non-tariff barriers, and with freedom for the crucial service industries in which Britain excels like law, insurance and financial services to trade as well continued single market access for our great manufacturing industries.
And when the country is threatened by terrorism we should do nothing that reduces security co-operation or makes it harder for our police and intelligence services to co-operate and trade information with their counterparts on the continent.
Brexit is not an ideological game. There is a huge amount at stake.
With the talks beginning we should now focus on an outcome that ensures our prosperity and security.
