Take Back Control and Back Britain

The Prime Minister will today set out his Brexit roadmap, explaining how a Conservative majority Government will unleash the benefits of getting Brexit done.

In a keynote speech alongside former Vote Leave campaigners Michael Gove and Gisela Stuart, Mr Johnson will set out a bold and ambitious plan to make sure that people get the change that they voted for three years ago.

He will pledge that a Conservative majority Government will take immediate steps to realise the benefits of Brexit to ensure that, by 1 January 2021, we can make a real difference to people’s lives. They include:

• We will back British businesses by introducing a new state aid regime which makes it faster and easier for the Government to intervene to protect jobs when an industry is in trouble.
• We will back British business by fundamentally changing our public procurement policy so it promotes the local economy. This will allow us to make sure that we can boost UK SMEs.
• We will back women across Britain by scrapping the Tampon tax.
• We will back British farmers by making sure we leave the CAP and will promote a ‘buy British’ rule for public bodies.

These are just some of the benefits that Brexit will deliver. In addition to the above, the Government will also take steps to ensure that the Australian-style points-based system is in place by 1 January 2021. By lowering the number of unskilled immigrants, the system will remove a major force that puts a downward pressure on people’s wages and reduce the overall level of immigration.

None of these policies would be possible under a Jeremy Corbyn premiership - Labour have committed in their manifesto to another chaotic referendum, which result in the UK either staying in the EU or having a very close relationship with the Single Market and remaining in the EU’s Customs Union - which would necessitate aligning with EU state aid, procurement and VAT policies. Remaining in the EU will also result in the UK having to remain part of the wasteful CAP. And Labour has committed to retaining free movement.

Over the last three years, both this Government and the previous Government have introduced a number of laws to realise the benefits of Brexit. For example, the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018 ensures that the UK leaves the EU’s customs union and takes back control of its trade. However the gridlock in Parliament has meant that many of the key promises that were made to the British people in 2016 have not been realised, as politicians have sought to reverse the referendum result. As a result, three and a half years on, we remain in a position where it is very hard for the British Government to put the interests of British people or British businesses first.

The Brexit roadmap that the Prime Minister sets out today will rectify this - and shows how, if it is returned with a majority on 12 December, we will deliver on the promises that were made in 2016, and realise the benefits of getting Brexit done.

Because the UK has agreed a Withdrawal Agreement we will have 11 months between the UK formally leaving and the implementation period ending for the British Government to develop new rules and, crucially, to introduce legislation to ensure that the benefits of Brexit are realised immediately.

Commenting, the Prime Minister said:

“If we are returned with a majority government we will leave the EU on 31 January and immediately get to work on unleashing the benefits of Brexit. People voted to take back control - and we want to deliver that change. One of the crucial ways we will do that is by improving our rules so that we can back British businesses and unleash their true potential.

“We have a great deal that is oven ready, It’s a deal that allows us to take back control of immigration, introduce an Australian-style points based system, and improve our border security. And it is a deal that lets us back British businesses helping them to create more jobs in this country

“The alternative would be a return to the broken parliament that has kept the country in gridlock for three years headed up with a Corbyn-Sturgeon coalition of chaos that would force the country into another two divisive referendums in 2020. The only way to secure change at this election is to vote for a Conservative majority government to get Brexit done.”