British Prime Minister Theresa May on Thursday said a good Brexit that would be of national interests is possible.
TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports May stated this while addressing the House of Commons following the publication of a draft agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.
“A good Brexit, in the national interests, is possible. We have persevered and made a major breakthrough. Voting against a deal would take us back to square one. If we get behind a deal we can bring our country back together. We can choose to leave with no deal, and there is no Brexit at all. We can choose to unite and support the best deal we can negotiate,” the Prime Minister said.
May’s cabinet had on Wednesday met to discuss the terms of the withdrawal agreement, and since then a number of senior members of the government, including Brexit’s secretary, Dominic Raab, have resigned over the Prime Ministers proposals.
The draft withdrawal agreement sets out the terms of the UK’s smooth and orderly exit from the European Union, including a protocol on Northern Ireland. It reflects agreement in principle between the UK and EU negotiating teams on the full legal text.
“We were told we had a binary choice between Norway or Canada that we could not have a bespoke deal. But the outline is better than both of these. We were told we would be treated as a third country on security but this is beyond anything the EU has agreed with any other country,” May said, defending the draft agreement.
She said in her statement to the Commons that the draft agreement by Cabinet on Wednesday was not a final agreement, but that it brings the UK “close to a Brexit deal”.
Outlining the deal, May said: “It takes back control of our borders, laws and money. It protects jobs, security and the integrity of the United Kingdom, and it delivers in ways that many said could simply not be done.
“We were told we had a binary choice between the model of Norway and the model of Canada, that we could not have a bespoke deal.
“But the outline political declaration sets out an arrangement that is better for our country than both of these – a more ambitious free trade agreement than the EU has with any other country.
“We were told we would be treated like any other third country on security co-operation. But the outline political declaration sets out a breadth and depth of co-operation beyond anything the EU has agreed with any other country”.