The Workers Union is urging Boris Johnson to get a Brexit deal done for the people of this country.
The announcement comes amidst rising fears of a stalemate as talks with the EU founder over fishing rights.
In recent days, both the EU and British government negotiators have moved from cautious optimism to resigned weariness as neither side seems willing to budge on key issues. Whitehall sources continue to reject any deal which doesn’t leave the UK ‘in control of our own laws or waters.’
At the same time, the EU has expressed palpable concerns over its ability to maintain access to UK waters once the transition period ends on December 31st. Long-standing issues around competitiveness between EU countries and a post-Brexit Britain also remain to be resolved.
The Workers Union on Brexit
As we enter the final hours of negotiations, it’s clear that getting an agreement is going to go right down to the wire. Politicians on both sides face very difficult decisions. Whatever the outcome, a proportion of their domestic electorate will find themselves feeling betrayed.
But in recent times there are certain truths that have made themselves evident above and beyond the theatres of national politics. The Coronavirus response, for example, has shown what can be achieved by working together. With migration, environmental issues and security liable to dictate the agenda in the coming years, it would be an act of profound foolishness to ignore this lesson in international cooperation.
Then there are the deep, long-lasting effects that tariffs and controls will have on local businesses and communities on both sides of the channel. Last week, Kent’s chief of police estimated that there will be an average delay of two days to get across to continental Europe. This will put pressure on businesses that rely on the swift transit of goods in and out of the UK and EU. It will also affect the availability of medicines, food and other essential goods.
If this was the only area of concern, there might be more latitude to shake hands and walk away from the table. But supply chains are only a subset of a problem that has wider economic, environmental and social implications.
The Path to a Deal
When Britain voted to leave the EU, it did so on the basis of rejecting the economic, legal and political strictures that the single market imposes on member states. For the EU, delivering the freedoms implied in that outcome was always going to be difficult – not least because of legitimate worries that rewarding a country for exiting the bloc could completely derail the European project. Yet both sides have a responsibility to make sure that working people do not suffer in the political crossfire. It is beholden on them to strike a deal that protects jobs, promotes growths and allows close-cooperation on crucial issues to continue unimpeded.
These considerations must always take precedence over nationalist sentiment or economic protectionism.
So c’mon Boris, show your leadership mettle and bring both parties together in a spirit of fraternal cooperation. The world is watching – now it’s time to deliver.
The Workers Union – Making your voice heard in the fight for workers’ rights
