CIBUK AGM GUEST SPEAKER: RT. HON. DAVID JONES MP and other news

CIBUK – NEWSLETTER

“Many happy returns – your CIB celebrates its first anniversary under new management”

In celebration of its one-year anniversary under new management, CIBUK were delighted to welcome Conservative MP and stalwart Brexiteer, the Rt. Hon. David Jones MP as our keynote speaker at this year’s Annual General Meeting.

Addressing the membership via zoom, he delivered a post-Brexit audit on the government’s record across a range of issues from the vaccine roll-out to free trade agreements and the economy.

Much has been accomplished he said but plenty remains to be done, and in an upbeat message urged the government to seize the opportunities now open to it.

We are also very grateful to Reform UK’s Alexandra Phillips who talked to us about her party’s evolution from UKIP via the Brexit Party to its current incarnation as Reform UK.

Disillusion with the two main parties runs deep and it remains to be seen whether Reform can break the mould and persuade sufficient numbers to vote for the change that so many wish to see.

Both of these interviews can be found towards the end of the newsletter.

IN OTHER NEWS…

The Budget

Near hysteria over the Lineker Affair has given way to more measured analysis last week as pundits pored over the details of Jeremy Hunt’s Spring Budget following the Chancellor’s statement to the House on Wednesday afternoon.

The abolition of the lifetime cap on pension savings provides a welcome incentive to those who wish to continue working or who decide to return to work. We also welcome full expensing for investment in plant and machinery albeit for only three years as the first step in addressing the UK’s abysmal productivity record.

Nonetheless, as Ewen Stewart points out in the enclosed Affiliate article deep, systemic flaws continue to undermine the UK economy across a range of issues from tax and energy to regulation and the growth of the state as a proportion of GDP.

As we have repeatedly argued, a low-tax, lightly regulated economy with a streamlined planning system backed up by a drastic skills-drive remains the surest route to economic prosperity.  At present that model seems a distant goal but one CIBUK will continue to campaign on.

Northern Ireland

We remain cautious about the outcome over developments in Northern Ireland with a crunch vote on the ‘Stormont brake’ – a key part of the Windsor Framework – due to take place in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

While the DUP remain tight-lipped we are grateful to our principal Affiliate for their in-depth analysis of the Framework and its implications not only for Northern Ireland but for Brexit itself.

CIBUK AGM

GUEST SPEAKER:  RT. HON. DAVID JONES MP

A renewed and revitalised CIBUK celebrated its Annual General Meeting under new management with a keynote address by one of its most distinguished and long-standing supporters.

It was a particular privilege and delight to welcome the Rt. Hon. David Jones MP, who gave up his Friday evening to speak to us. David has been a stalwart supporter of CIBUK for many years and his words of encouragement and endorsement are deeply appreciated.

Taking stock on all that has happened, he told his audience

“We are now almost seven years since that historic referendum, when the people of this country took the step …to decide to leave the European Union and speaking personally I can say that that was the proudest political moment of my life.”

He commended the government’s swift and flexible response to the global pandemic through its highly effective roll-out of the vaccine in the teeth of appalling opposition from the EU who considered invoking Article 16 to block EU exports of the vaccine to Northern Ireland.

He also highlighted the vital role that the United Kingdom played and continues to play in assisting the Ukrainians in defence of their country.

In terms of global trade, there are already signs that Britain is beginning to take advantage of its new-found freedoms with trade agreements with New Zealand, Japan and Australia and the prospect of acceding to the CPTPP – the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Elsewhere, the picture is more mixed. He regards the increase of Corporation Tax from 19%-25% as ‘an unfortunate misstep’ which has led Astra-Zeneca to decide to relocate its new factory to Ireland.  The decision is even harder to justify given the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) calculated that the UK had around £166bn of fiscal headroom to play with which could be used to offset any rise in CT.

David concluded by saying that all-told it he regarded life outside the EU as a considerable improvement to being part of a monolithic European bureaucracy, in our charge of our own destiny and free to make our own decisions.

A link to the full address can be found here.

REFORM UK’S ALEXANDRA PHILIPS SPEAKS TO CIBUK

“If I were to sum up what it is that people would get if they vote for Reform, it’s easy: it’s reform.”

In a lively and wide-ranging interview Alexandra Phillips, spokeswoman for Reform UK, provided a fascinating insight into the Party’s rise as the main outside challenger to the Westminster coalition.

From Brexit and the economy to constitutional reform and education, Reform UK it seems is challenging the Establishment on every front.

ON ELECTORAL REFORM

“…vote for who you want to vote for, be part of the change you want to see happen, because unless you do that, you’re part of the problem.”

ON TAX

“It’s utterly vital we cut corporation tax… critically and crucially for small and medium sized enterprises out there who have been constantly overlooked.”

ON EDUCATION AND THE ‘WOKE’ CULTURE

“I think we’ve got to start leaning towards a position where there is nothing taught to children in schools without parental consent.”

ON THE MIGRANT BOAT CRISIS

“First of all, you do need to look at leaving the ECHR and changing our legal system to say that if you arrive in the UK illegally then you will not be resettled here and you have no future.”

And what of Nigel?

“It is entirely up to Nigel whether he wants to re-enter the fray in the very front line of politics, and I think that’s a decision he deserves to make for himself.”

‘Don’t garage the Farage’

“All I hope is that we build a machine and a vehicle that is befitting of Nigel if and when he decides he wants to re-enter the frontline and my gut feeling is given how interesting politics is right now… I would be very surprised if the Farage car is locked in the garage.”

Read our article part one
Read our article part two
The full video interview can be seen here.

We provide links to articles on other topics we have covered over the past week which we list below:

Can UK Rejoiners please explain why Brexit Britain is doing better than the EU?

EU admits total of its illegal migrants entering UK in 2022 was 31% higher than Home Office says

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Main image : montage © CIBUK 2023