John Baron MP opposes remainer hijack of Parliament

MP says anti-no-dealers have not considered economic facts

Yesterday John Baron MP spoke several times in the House of Commons Chamber in support of the Government’s Brexit policy of not ruling out leaving the EU without an agreement, as this makes securing a good agreement more likely. He also supported the Government in the vote on the emergency debate motion.

In the Chamber, John asked the Prime Minister,

“Most of us in this place would prefer a good trade deal to no deal at all, but will the Prime Minister reflect on the fact that of the top 10 of the EU’s trading partners, half trade on WTO no-deal terms? Will he therefore continue to put to the sword this ludicrous suggestion that Britain would be incapable of trading on such terms? We would prosper.”

The Prime Minister responded that John was totally right, and that after Brexit Britain would regain its position as an independent trading nation.

In his own speech, John said,

“I rise in opposition to this motion and in support of my Prime Minister for two reasons. The first is that there is more than a whiff of arrogance in this motion. Too many remain MPs in this place will use any device to try to block Brexit. The decision was delegated by this place to the people, and they made their decision very clearly.”

“We have been kicking this can down the road for three years and to many outside this Westminster bubble, enough is enough. I remind the House that the majority of Members who are going to support the motion voted in favour of triggering article 50, which said that we would be leaving the EU with or without a deal. We have three times extended that time line, and that is why people outside this place are getting very frustrated with many colleagues here tonight.”

“Apart from the arrogance, this decision is ill-informed. It will make a bad deal more likely. Anyone who has negotiated in business or with any organisations will know that if the other side believes that one is not prepared to walk away, it will make for a worse deal. Most of us in this place prefer a good trade deal to no deal, but the guaranteed way of getting a bad deal is to take no deal off the table.”

“This decision is also ill-informed from an economic point of view. No deal has been derided without examining a lot of the economic facts. Time does not allow here and now for those points to be made. I would merely suggest that people reflect on the fact that half of the EU’s top 10 trading partners trade on WTO no-deal terms with parties outside the EU.”
“If proof of the pudding were required, with all the talk in the past few years about no deal being better than a bad deal, industry has been fully aware that no deal has been a distinct possibility, and what have we seen economically? We have seen record low unemployment, record manufacturing output and record investment. This country attracted more inward investment last year than France and Germany put together. It comes down to economic reality. I am afraid that some Members of the House, in coming to their decision tonight, have not considered the economic facts.”