I happened to listen to Peter Mandelson on the Today programme. He was asked to comment on the British prime minister’s forthcoming speech on Europe, and he ventured into the usual guff about how the government has no “plan” for Brexit, no vision, no idea how to enact the June 23, 2016, mandate of the people, and so forth. I don’t know whether he then listened to Prime Minister Theresa May’s 6,300-word speech about Global Britain, but if he did then I fancy that even the noble Lord Mandelson of Foy and Hartlepool might have felt a little bit foolish.
The truth is that to anyone willing to think logically, the broad outlines of the PM’s conception of leaving the European Union (EU) have been obvious for months. In her speech on Tuesday, she spelt it out with total clarity. She set out a powerful and ambitious vision for the United Kingdom, so that we can see exactly where we are going, and how we will get there. Point by point, she nailed the “ambiguities”. She explained — to Britain and the world — how Britain can leave the EU, and yet not leave Europe. We do not seek membership of the single market, she said — for the very good reason that the single market is a catch-all term for the burgeoning system of legislation that governs most EU activity; and the British people have voted decisively that they no longer wish to be subject to EU law.
Access to single market
That does not mean Britain wants to diminish the volume of trade, in goods and services, that it does with the rest of the EU. On the contrary, it is one of the disappointing features of Britain’s membership that UK exports to the rest of the EU have been far outstripped by dozens of countries who are not members and who bear none of the costs and legal burdens. What Britain wants is access to the single market — a bold and ambitious free-trade agreement that removes as many barriers as possible, not just because more trade is in the interests of the UK, but because it is in the interests of the entire population of Europe; because, as the PM said, more trade is more growth, and more jobs all around. May was also clear and categorical that, in leaving the EU, Britain was leaving the customs union in this essential sense: That the UK will be taking back control of its tariff schedules in Geneva. It will no longer be part of the common commercial policy, or bound by the Common External Tariff, and will no longer have its trade policy run by the EU Commission.
That means — crucially — that Britain will be able to do new free-trade deals with countries around the world. They are already queuing up. Under EU rules, the UK is not formally allowed to negotiate these new treaties until it leaves the bloc. But there is nothing to say that ideas cannot be pencilled in. And to those who worry about hassle at borders, May explained that she wanted a customs agreement with the EU, so that Britain could regain international trading independence while ensuring that trade with the EU would remain frictionless. Again, that is not just in the interests of the UK, but of both sides.
She explained that Britain is taking back control of its borders and of the huge sums of money that it sends to Brussels — as campaigners promised during the referendum — but it is not severing its ties with its friends and partners in Europe; quite the reverse. Britain wants to build a new European partnership that goes beyond free trade and develops the cooperation in so many fields that matter to both sides of the Channel — on European security, defence and foreign policy. Britain wants a new and equal partnership that strengthens the EU and the UK and it is emphatic on one key point: That it is no part of the UK agenda to weaken or undermine the EU. Britain wants a strong EU and a strong UK; and indeed there are senses in which the UK is there to be supportive of the EU — in counter-terrorism, or intelligence-sharing — as a flying buttress supports a cathedral.
Joyous exploration
Britain will continue to share European values, to take part in European scientific and educational programmes — and to pay for them, where necessary. It will continue the joyous exploration of other European cultures and civilisations that have been expanding since the dawn of cheap air travel, and Britain will continue to welcome vast numbers of EU tourists.
We are not slamming the door to migrants, or hauling up the drawbridge. As the PM said, Britain will remain open to talent from the rest of the world — including the 93 per cent that do not come from the EU; an approach that has made the UK the most diverse and dynamic economy in Europe. But this is also Britain’s chance to look to the horizon, to build on its free-trading tradition and indeed to become the world’s number one agitator for free trade. Britain thinks there is a deal to be done that is great for the UK and for its EU partners. May has set out a clear plan that can work for all of us.
— The Telegraph Group Limited, London, 2017
Boris Johnson is Britain’s Foreign Secretary
