Bob Neill MP: The PM's deal is a sensible, mature compromise
4 min read
Chair of Parliament’s Justice Committee Bob Neill MP warns colleagues that leaving the EU without a deal "risks undermining one of this country’s key exports – the legal services sector – but could also weaken our ability to protect the public and fight terrorism and other serious crime".
Chair of Parliament’s justice committee Bob Neill MP warns colleagues that leaving the EU without a deal "risks undermining one of this country’s key exports – the legal services sector – but could also weaken our ability to protect the public and fight terrorism and other serious crime".
Time and again, we see the same six words precede declarations of support for the Prime Minister’s Withdrawal Agreement – ‘reluctantly, and with a heavy heart.’ It’s a repetition I’m guilty of committing myself, not due to a belief a better deal is achievable – it isn’t, unless we were to revoke Article 50 and stay in the EU – but because it takes our country in a direction I had not, and still do not, want.
Throughout my political career (which has spanned longer than I care to admit), I have been firmly of the view that, on almost any measure, we are better off in the EU than out. That is a view I maintain, but as a democrat, one I recognise was not shared by a majority of the electorate on 23 June 2016. That is why, despite my personal misgivings, I believe it is now the responsibility of all of us in Parliament to get on with the job at hand, delivering an orderly departure from the EU.
That being said, the narrowness of the referendum result was no mandate for the sort of hard Brexit some of my colleagues now advocate, nor could this binary question – simply put, do we leave or remain - decide how we depart, on what terms, or what form our future relationship with the EU27 should take. On this, Parliament must use its collective judgement, which is why, throughout this process, and on occasions, reluctantly against my Party (sometimes to much vilification from the media), I have voted for Parliament to be an active participant in deciding a way forward.
In my judgement, the Prime Minister’s deal offers a sensible compromise, and importantly, one that staves off the dangerous dogma of the ideological extremes. In each of my roles in Westminster, it offers those I work with and represent a pragmatic departure that protects jobs, supports the economy, and keeps us an open and vibrant country.
First and foremost, in my role as a constituency MP. Some 36 per cent of Bromley and Chislehurst’s residents work in the financial and professional services sector, and I have made very clear that I will not vote for anything that damages the businesses it includes – which contributed £72.1 billion in taxes to the UK economy in 2017 - or the livelihoods of those it employs. Crucial to that is ensuring we avoid the sort of cliff-edge Brexit a no deal would entail, and which would have profound and lasting economic ramifications (not my words, but the CBI’s). This deal secures the transition period businesses so desperately need, from which we can negotiate our future relationship with the EU, which is why it’s being supported by the City of London Corporation and City UK, amongst others.
Second, as the Chair of Parliament’s Justice Committee. Once we leave the EU our justice system will require significant ongoing alignment to, and close cooperation with, the corresponding EU arrangements. Failure to do so not only risks undermining one of this country’s key exports – the legal services sector – but could also weaken our ability to protect the public and fight terrorism and other serious crime. This deal safeguards against that.
And third, as the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Gibraltar. However we leave, few will be affected as much as Gibraltar, which relies on its access to EU markets, and many of whose citizens make the daily commute over its border with Spain for work. As the Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, has made clear, the Prime Minister’s deal protects their interests.
So yes, reluctantly and with a heavy heart, I will be supporting this deal, not through Party loyalty or personal allegiance, but because, with each of these hats on, it offers those I care about an infinitely safer and more certain path ahead than the alternatives. I hope colleagues, from both sides of the House, will similarly put what personal gripes they might have aside and see this deal for what it is: a sensible, mature compromise.
Bob Neill is the Conservative MP for Bromley and Chislehurst. He is Chair of the House of Commons Justice Committee.
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