We were told before the referendum that securing a free trade deal between the UK and the EU would be “one of the easiest in human history”. Nearly four years on, history has shown this was not the case. It took three and a half years just to agree the withdrawal framework agreement. Now, in the midst of a pandemic, we have just eight months left to get a trade agreement drawn up and agreed – with two rounds of talks having already been cancelled in March 2020.
Leaving the EU without a trade deal would cause some damage to the EU27 but it would be disastrous for the UK. It is time to put a stop to a no deal Brexit. We have done this before and we can do it again.
After the 2016 referendum result, we did not give up. We signed petitions and lobbied MPs. We wrote letters to newspapers, spoke out on phone-ins. We ran street stalls and campaigned on the doorstep. And together we marched.
By 2019 a majority of MPs were convinced that a no deal Brexit must be stopped. MPs voted against a no deal Brexit in March and again in September.
Today the time left for negotiating a UK-EU trade deal is simply too short. It would have been challenging without the impacts of Covid-19. Now it is simply unrealistic. Refusing to revise the arbitrary deadline of 31st December 2020 serves no purpose other than to save face for those who claimed they were going to get Brexit done. The economy has suffered enough with Covid-19. We must not allow the damage to be exacerbated by a no deal Brexit.
Join the campaign to protect our country from a no deal Brexit.