17th October, 2019 – The Social Democratic Party (SDP) welcomes the new Withdrawal Agreement reached between the UK Government and the European Union and urges MPs to support it.
We were implacably opposed to Theresa May’s appalling “worst deal in history” with its indefinite lock-in for the UK in EU rules and no escape clause.
But Boris Johnson is to be congratulated for reaching a far more equitable leaving plan within three months of taking office. Had Conservative MPs not decided to entrust Brexit negotiations to Remainers for three years then undoubtedly a better agreement could have been reached which would have included a confirmed free trade deal to begin simultaneously with our departure.
But starting from where he did, with the EU’s “sequencing” demands already acceded to by his predecessor, Mr Johnson has extracted important gains for the UK, which appear to give the country basic control over its own destiny.
Because of the ineptitude and dishonesty of the previous May regime and of opposition parties within the House of Commons, the Brexit process has proved unnecessarily demoralising and divisive for our country.
The time has come to turn the page and look forward to our future as a proud and independent nation state with friendly relations not only with the EU, but also with the Commonwealth, the Anglosphere and the rest of the world.