In Parliament this week we have seen some progress towards Brexit being delivered. The post-Brexit Agriculture, Trade and Immigration Bills have thankfully all passed through their preliminary phases of Parliament this week. Now we have to wait another 2 weeks at least for these Bills to pass their remaining phases, as both Houses of Parliament are on yet another Recess until June 2nd… At this crucial time, you would think passing vital Bills into Law would be a bit more of a priority!
Meanwhile, while the Immigration Bill is moving through Parliament, we have seen a ridiculous situation in the English Channel being exposed, with French Naval vessels clearly being shown on the news escorting migrants’ small vessels directly into UK waters from France, instead of trying to intervene and return them back to where they launched their boats. The Home Secretary, Priti Patel, has reportedly been raising this issue on a regular basis with her French counterpart – it seems to no avail – despite the fact we are now funding French patrols along the coast. This is a situation which cannot continue and the Home Office must increase their stance. How else will we stop these boats making the dangerous journey across the Channel and for these migrants to increase dependence on our generous social welfare system, and on our already stretched NHS?
After much pressure from Get Britain Out over the last month it seems the Department for International Trade has now gone into overdrive, with trade talks with the United States of America now hitting their stride and new talks between the UK and Japan underway. Finally, the Government published their new ‘UK Global Tariff’ this week, which will determine how much it will cost to import certain goods into the UK – and in many cases, it will mean cheaper imports. We will make sure we keep up the pressure as these talks need to continue at a rapid pace – especially with the USA – because the upcoming Presidential election will be taking place in November. Should President Donald Trump lose, then Joe Biden has shown himself to be far more anti-UK, which could clearly cause talks to slow down.
While international free trade will be key to the UK’s growth after Brexit, we must also make sure we are not dependent on foreign imports, especially on those from China, which is still demonstrating they are untrustworthy to the international community. This has led to the Government setting up ‘Project Defend’ this week, which aims to avoid a reliance on hostile foreign nations. This will be led by the Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, but it MUST not limit its assessment to trade, but any cooperation we have with China on security matters, for example, the involvement of Huawei in the building of the UK’s 5G network.
Back in the UK – and with such a lack of progress in the Brexit negotiations – the Government are finally re-starting preparations for a World Trade Organisation No Deal exit from the EU again, with staff who had been assigned to dealing with COVID-19 now being moved back to No Deal preparations.
One area which needs much more attention by the Government is about UK citizens’ rights abroad. In the Withdrawal Agreement it was agreed the EU committed to protecting the rights of the 1.2 million UK citizens who live in EU Member States, like France and Spain. However, the EU has categorically failed to sort this out, with hundreds of thousands of Britons abroad left without any clarity after the end of this year. Remember when Remainers said it was Brexiteers playing games with citizens’ rights? The Government must do more to pressure the EU and Member States on this issue, which is why Get Britain Out’s Director, Jayne Adye, has this week written to The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Michael Gove MP, on this very issue to ask him for clarity. The letter can be read in the links at the end of this e-Bulletin.
ACTION POINTS
While letters from our Director are important, it is important MPs and the Government see the Great British Public really care about these issues. This is why we have two template letters for you to send.
- The first is a letter to Michael Gove MP on the matter of UK citizens’ rights in the EU and why the Government must do more. – The letter can be read and downloaded here.
In order to send this, you simply need to download and print off the document, fill in the date, sign your name and please make sure you include your address. Then stamp and post the letter to this address:
The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP The Cabinet Office 70 Whitehall London, SW1A 2AS
This could also be sent by e-Mail, but please remember it is best to include it in the e-Mail content, rather than as an attachment, as they don’t usually get through the security systems. The 2 e-Mail addresses to send to are: [email protected] and publiccorrespondence@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
- The second is a letter to your own local MP asking them to read an article we have published on our Website. This covers the vital issue of the EU still trying to keep control over the UK military after we Leave the EU. It is vital more MPs are made aware of this crucial issue and then raise the matter with the Government themselves.The letter can be read and downloaded here.
For this letter, again you need to print it off, fill in the date and sign your name and please make sure you include your address.
In order to find out who your local MP is and what address to send the letter to you can go to this link – https://members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP
Then, of course, stamp the envelope and post.
We appreciate these actions can be a little time-consuming. However, these are critical issues which must not be ignored by the Government and our MPs, so your help is requested.
WHAT WE HAVE BEEN UP TO:
IMPORTANT STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:
That’s all for this e-Bulletin. I hope you all have a very good Bank Holiday weekend.
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 – and keep yourselves safe.
Please don’t forget, we really need your help with donations for the next 7 months as I have explained above, to make sure we secure the best Brexit for the United Kingdom.
We of course, 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 and now, more than ever – with other campaigns closing up shop – every penny counts.
Without your support we cannot continue to run our campaign to keep up the pressure on the Government to listen to the will of the Great British Public. The Remain campaigns are ongoing with their billionaire donors and massive commercial backers. If we don’t have an ongoing voice to fight for Brexit, we will end up with the Remain agenda once again dominating and perhaps even trying to reverse the EU Referendum result, giving no voice for the millions who voted to Leave.
We understand these are hard times, but for the next 7 months, if you could 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 which will speak up for you, then please donate whatever you can.
Donations can be made via bank transfer, bank standing order, cheque or PayPal – all the details are HERE.
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