The Humble Petition of the residents of Wellingborough, Northamptonshire and the surrounding areas,
Sheweth,
That the Petitioners believe that the Brexit that they voted for should be adhered to by Her Majesty’s Government. This includes, ending the free-movement of people from the EU and control immigration, stop sending billions and billions of £s each year to Brussels, make our own laws in our own country, judges by our own judges.
Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your Honourable House urges the Prime Minister to take in account the concerns of petitioners and deliver a Brexit which people voted for.
And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, etc.—[Presented by Mr Peter Bone , Official Report, 6 February 2019; Vol. 654, c. 362 .]
[P002401]
Observations from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (Kwasi Kwarteng):
The referendum on EU membership in 2016 was the biggest exercise of democracy in this nation’s history, and the British people voted to leave. The deal the UK has agreed with the EU is one that respects that result: free movement will end, the UK will stop paying vast sums of money to the EU, and jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) will stop. On top of this, the deal protects jobs and the Union, and gives citizens and businesses certainty; it prepares the ground for an unprecedented free trade deal with the EU that recognises the development of an independent UK trade policy; it removes us from EU programmes like the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy, granting us control of our waters as an independent coastal state.
As we leave the EU, free movement will end and we will introduce our new skills-based immigration system. This will include visa-free travel for short-term visits, including for tourists and business travellers. As set out in the Government’s recent White Paper, The UK’s future skills-based immigration system, we want the democratically elected representatives of the UK to be the ones to decide who comes into this country. Ours will be a fair immigration system based on people’s skills, rather than their nationality.
As well as ending free movement, the deal ends the UK paying vast sums of money to the EU and removes us from the EU budget. This will allow us to invest in domestic priorities, including the NHS, and will see all parts of the UK benefit from extra funding. There are of course areas where it makes sense for the UK and the EU to continue to pool resources, where we will deliver more together than we could alone. These include science and innovation, culture and education, and overseas development and external action.
In leaving the EU, the jurisdiction of the CJEU will end. After the implementation period, all laws in the UK will be passed by our elected officials in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and London. There will only be specific and limited circumstances where the jurisdiction of the CJEU applies, for instance where we choose to participate in an EU agency.
The Government are committed to leaving the EU with a deal that honours the result of the referendum, while protecting our economy, security and our precious Union. The Government are working with MPs and EU leaders to secure this deal, and the Prime Minister has urged MPs to listen to the British people to get this issue settled and to work with the Government to do just that.