A man waves Union flags as he drives past Brexit supporters in Parliament Square in London on January 31. Photo: AFP
Opinion
Grenville Cross
Grenville Cross
Brexit has restored British sovereignty and given Thatcher the last laugh
Boris Johnson is the hero of the hour for securing a better-than-expected EU trade deal but the role of his predecessor, Margaret Thatcher, in sowing the seeds of Brexit, must never be forgotten
In 1930, Sir Winston Churchill said: “We are with Europe, but not of it”, and this has been the view of many Britons. While resenting the European Union’s grandiose plans, they have traditionally felt great affinity with their European neighbours, whether in or out of the EU. Although, when Britain joined the EU’s predecessor in 1973, people were assured that it was only a trading bloc, its cover was blown over time.
Once they realised that a “United States of Europe” was envisaged, through what the Maastricht Treaty (1992) called an “ever closer union”, the backlash began. Across the political spectrum, demands to quit the EU grew, with firebrand Nigel Farage brilliantly articulating grass-roots discontent. On December 31, 4½ years after the British people voted to leave in 2016, Brexit became reality, albeit on terms far better than many expected.
Against the odds, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson secured a trade deal with the EU worth £660 billion (US$900 billion) a year, enabling British businesses to carry on trading with the bloc, free of tariffs or quotas. His chief negotiator, Lord David Frost, called the deal “a moment of national renewal” and it is clear why.
It is a better deal than the EU has ever negotiated with another country, and it delivers on Johnson’s key objective of a “Canada plus plus” arrangement, with British products enjoying better access than Canada achieved in its landmark EU deal in 2016. The authenticity of Johnson’s deal may be tested through the eyes of the most inveterate Brexiteers.
Sir William Cash, for example, a veteran Eurosceptic member of parliament, has paid a “profound tribute” to Johnson for achieving a deal that provides for “a new exciting era for our trade with Europe and the rest of the world”.
The European Research Group, comprising the Conservative Party’s purist Brexit parliamentarians, and whose “Spartans” defeated former prime minister Theresa May’s proposals in 2019, precipitating her resignation, has also endorsed the deal. Its chairman, Mark Francois, said it “fully respects the norms of international sovereign-to-sovereign treaties”, which, for the ERG, is high praise.
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson signs Brexit trade deal
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson signs Brexit trade deal
Indeed, Johnson’s deal, in addition to providing certainty to business, protecting jobs, and giving Britain control over its laws, borders, money and waters, also ends the European Court of Justice’s legal jurisdiction. This, given the court’s politicised role in promoting greater integration, is particularly gratifying. Any disputes will be resolved by independent arbitrators, with sovereignty respected.
Although the deal provides for a 5½-year fishing transition period before Britain takes back full legal control of its coastal waters, its share of the fish caught will increase by 25 per cent of the value of the EU catch in British waters in the meantime, and its fishing fleet, eviscerated by the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy, will also be expanded.
Britain, moreover, while retaining free trade with the EU, can now pursue trade deals with other countries, of which it has secured 60, giving it the best of both worlds. Deals such as those with Canada and Mexico will take effect soon, and others are in the pipeline, although not so far with the US. About 85 per cent of the world’s economy is outside the EU, and huge opportunities are opening up elsewhere.
In particular, now the EU has negotiated its far-ranging investment deal with China, which will give its companies wide access to a previously heavily restricted market, Johnson must ensure that Britain does not miss out, given that China is predicted to have the world’s largest economy by 2028. This, however, is not a given, as hostile actions can attract repercussions.
Johnson must hope that such things as his somersault over Huawei’s role in Britain’s 5G network or his suspension of the fugitive surrender agreement with Hong Kong have not caused any long-term damage to British interests.
Fortunately for him, however, China will not have forgotten Britain’s support of its application to join the World Trade Organization in 2001, or its willingness to sign up to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in 2015, the first G7 country to do so. Chinese companies, moreover, are heavily invested in Britain, with Grant Thornton’s Tou Ying Tracker research of 800 companies revealing a combined turnover of £91 billion in 2019.
According to a recent survey by the British Chamber of Commerce in China, involving 256 companies, 44 per cent of them plan to increase their investment in China, but have concerns over British policy.
Johnson must, therefore, get fully behind British businesses as they seek to take advantage of the opening up ushered in by China’s foreign investment law of 2020. If he truly envisages a “Global Britain”, he should provide every possible encouragement to those involved in, for example, business and professional services, advanced manufacturing, transport and education – all areas where China welcomes foreign enterprises.
Although Johnson is the hero of the hour, the role of his predecessor, Margaret Thatcher, in sowing the seeds of Brexit, must never be forgotten.
In 1988, in her Bruges speech, she argued against the imposition of a “European superstate exercising a new dominance from Brussels”, as this would ride roughshod over the traditions, norms and identities of member states, but her words fell on deaf ears.
In 1990, having recognised the EU’s true intentions, she famously declared, in the House of Commons, “no, no, no” to a federalist Europe, only for its supporters to drive her from office soon afterwards, although their victory was pyrrhic.
Because of Johnson, Farage, Cash and millions of ordinary Britons, Thatcher has had the last laugh, and British sovereignty is again restored.
Grenville Cross SC was Leave Means Leave ambassador for Hong Kong and Macau, 2018-2020
