I am very pleased the UK and the EU have today agreed a deal.
It is the final piece in the Brexit jigsaw and marks a new chapter in Britain’s history and our relationship with our European friends and allies.
It also delivers on the election promise for the British people and I very much hope we can now, as a country, finally end the division over this issue that has gone on for decades.
This is a £660 billion a year zero-tariff free trade deal. The text of the deal is hundreds of pages long so MPs, including myself, will be poring over the details in the days to come and I will return to parliament to debate the deal and vote on it when I am asked to do so.
From the Prime Minister:
“Deal is done.
Everything that the British public was promised during the 2016 referendum and in the general election last year is delivered by this deal
We have taken back control of our money, borders, laws, trade and our fishing waters
The deal is fantastic news for families and businesses in every part of the UK. We have signed the first free trade agreement based on zero tariffs and zero quotas that has ever been achieved.
The deal is the biggest bilateral trade deal signed by either side, covering trade worth £668bn in 2019.
The deal also guarantees that we are no longer in the lunar pull of the EU, we are not bound by EU rules, there is no role for the European Court of Justice and all of our key red lines about returning sovereignty have been achieved. It means that we will have full political and economic independence on 1st January 2021.
A points-based immigration system will put us in full control of who enters the UK and free movement will end.
We have delivered this great deal for the entire United Kingdom in record time, and under extremely challenging conditions, which protects the integrity of our internal market and Northern Ireland’s place within it.
We have got Brexit done and we can now take full advantage of the fantastic opportunities available to us as an independent trading nation, striking trade deals with other partners around the world. “
