Ed Davey on EU Trade Deal

On 30 December another chapter in the horror story of Brexit ended and another one begins at midnight European time on 31 December. The UK-EU trade deal was passed by the House of Commons and the Lords.

The decision taken by the Liberal Democrats MPs to vote against the deal was not taken lightly. If the terms had been good, it would have been in the best interests of the country to vote for it.

However, as Party Leader said in his speech, the deal put before Parliament is a bad deal. It is a bad deal for the economy, for security, for people like us living outside the UK. It’s despicable how little time MPs had to scrutinise and debate the deal, given the effect it will have.

Ed states that Boris Johnson’s deal is bad for jobs, bad for security, and bad for our environment. It’s bad for farmers; bad for our fishermen; bad for EU Citizens living in the UK & British citizens living in the EU. It’s bad for you, for me and everyone living in the UK.

The Liberal Democrat leader stated that he takes no pleasure in saying that. "It’s our country, our children and our grandchildren who will pay the price. Today, I’ll be (virtually) leading our MPs through the lobbies to vote against this wretched deal. Not just because I want Britain to remain a member of the EU, but because this is a terrible deal. With both Labour and the Conservatives voting for the deal, it will pass and I felt it was important for our staunch opposition to Brexit to be recorded again".

Today is a day none of us wanted to come. For years, the Liberal Democrats campaigned, marched and protested. They did everything we could to try and stop this. But the vote in parliaent is not the end of the story. Over the weeks and months to come, the real impact of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal will become painfully clear. Our job now is not to gloat and say “we told you so”. Our job is to hold the Prime Minister to account for the ways that his disastrous deal has let the country down. Now is not the time to give up. If you want a Britain that is fairer, greener and more caring, then you need to fight for it. The Liberal Democrats can’t promise you that it will be quick, or that it will be easy. But we can promise that working together; we can build a better Britain in Europe.