SIR JOHN REDWOOD abstained on the Brexit trade deal after sharing his ‘worries’ over fishing rights and Northern Ireland.
The Wokingham MP spoke during the House of Common debate on the future relationship with the European Union, telling the chamber that the Government was right to “recreate our sovereignty in the United Kingdom. We do not just want legal sovereignty; we also want practical sovereignty”.
He called on the Government to “spell out how they will be cutting our taxes, changing our laws and using our powers to grant aid and support businesses and individuals”, saying that this was what Brexit was all about.
On fishing, he called on the Government to legislate to prevent pulse fishing and over-large trawlers, and asked for aid to help train new fishermen and fisherwomen.
“Will they provide grant in aid schemes, so that those individuals can acquire second-hand trawlers or commission new trawlers from British yards so that we are again expanding the capacity of our industry?” he asked.
Sir John also raised concerns about Northern Ireland and its sovereignty, calling for more details on the limitations to the UK’s power to “be one United Kingdom in Northern Ireland, setting our own tax rates, making our own agreements on trade internationally and setting our own standards for products”.
He also wondered how this issue would affect Scotland, with one eye on next year’s elections there. “The SNP will clearly use the different arrangements in Northern Ireland as part of its battering ram against the Union, so I need some reassurance about the impact of the powers under this agreement,” he said.
Concluding, he told the chamber: “The two things I most like about this agreement are the ability to withdraw unilaterally from it, should the EU be too aggressive in its handling of us and in its claims upon us, and the fact that the ECJ has no further power in the United Kingdom.
“That is absolutely vital, because otherwise it will assert extraterritoriality.”
Explaining why he abstained, Sir John told Wokingham.Today: “I am pressing the government for the changes and clarifications on fishing and Northern Ireland as I explained, and for a fuller statement on how our new freedoms are going to be used to promote the greater prosperity and success of Wokingham and the UK.
“They were not forthcoming from Mr Gove in reply so l abstained.”
Former Prime Minister and Maidenhead MP Theresa May also spoke at the debate, saying she welcomed the deal and chastised Labour leader Kier Starmer for supporting it in today’s debate. “In early 2019, there was the opportunity of a better deal on the table, and he voted against it,” she said.
“We must never allow ourselves to think, as I fear that some in this House do, that sovereignty means isolationism,” she added.
