It was great to see on Christmas Eve the world’s biggest ever trade deal being achieved between the UK and the EU, in advance of the transitional period of our exiting the EU coming to an end on 1st January.
This deal takes back control of our laws, borders, money, trade and fisheries and ends any role for the European Court. From this Friday 1st January 2021, our United Kingdom will have political and economic independence and we will thrive as a country fully outside the EU.
We enter the New Year as a fully sovereign nation and in 2021 we will continue striking even more trade deals with other countries. This is the first free trade agreement based on zero tariffs and zero quotas that the EU has ever agreed. This is fantastic news for families and businesses in every part of the UK. Businesses will be able to continue to trade smoothly and people will be able to continue to buy goods from tariff-free from EU countries.
The deal delivers for our citizens, making our daily lives easier. It includes arrangements for airlines and hauliers that provides them with certainty, plus gives people the ability to travel to and from the EU easily for work and holidays. There is also a social security agreement that has practical benefits for UK citizens including accessing healthcare when travelling in the EU; and agreements on energy which will benefit consumers by helping to keep prices down.
With Crawley having the UK’s second largest Airport within our Borough and our relative proximity to channel ports and the Eurotunnel, getting a good trade deal and easy travel to EU countries is especially helpful for our local economy. I congratulate Boris Johnson and our Conservative government on achieving the biggest trade and cooperation deal in the world, on a huge range of issues, in record time and in hugely challenging conditions. This is the boost we need as we go into 2021 and start to recover from the terrible impact of Covid-19. I wish everyone a happy new year and a much better 2021.
Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group
30th December 2020
