David Davis: Next election will not be until 2022
3 min read
The existing Conservative government will last a full five year term and make sure Brexit gets through Parliament, the Brexit Secretary has said.
Speaking to the US Chamber of Commerce, Mr Davis, emphasised that Britain would not retreat into isolationism after it had left the bloc.
Mr Davis said the UK had been put under pressure to resolve the issue of the divorce bill during a “tense” round of negotiations.
He would not comment on the views of other ministers, but said: "We are in a difficult and tough, complicated negotiation.
"I have said from the beginning, it will be turbulent. What we're having at the moment is the first ripple and there will be many more ripples along the way."
The EU’s team, lead by Michel Barnier, have insisted the divorce bill is settled before the contentious issue of a trade agreement with the EU is agreed.
However, Mr Davis was optimistic about the future of the UK government, and it was his “expectation” that it would fulfill the full five year term.
He did not comment on whether Theresa May would survive as Prime Minister until the next election.
Mr Davis insisted negotiations were on track and that Brexit would be carried through before the next general election: "There is a majority to carry through Brexit in the UK Parliament and it will get done. It will get done in time."
In the rest of his speech, Mr Davis made a passionate defence of free trade, which he said was the best way to tackle the "greatest social and economic challenges".
He reiterated the UK’s commitment to global trade and called on the West to “lead the world again,” if it wanted to solve the economic problems that had plagued it since 2008.
"My message is clear: the answer to these challenges is not to turn inwards and become isolationist. The answer to the economic problems of the West cannot be to turn our back on globalisation and trade - it's to lead the world forward once again."
Mr Davis said he was committed to getting better trade opportunities for the UK after it had left the EU in 2019.
He said: "There are many that doubt this is possible but when I spoke to my European counterpart Michel Barnier I said to him once: 'The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity, the optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty'.
"And as ever on that front I am a determined optimist in this - we will get to those opportunities. Because fundamentally I believe that a good deal is in the interests of both the United Kingdom and the European Union and of the entire global community."
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