Following yesterday's blog post, various exchanges on Twitter today have underlined that those people who prefer a dangerous toxic pill form of release from our EU membership, rather than an effective course of treatment over a period of time, are trying to convince people that the Flexcit plan keeps freedom of movement intact. It's very dishonest of them.
But then, these people occupy an increasingly extreme fringe in the debate because more of their Ukip colleagues are supporting the phased withdrawal plan for its common sense, de-risked roadmap to full independence, which will end the primacy of EU law and freedom of movement.
The fact is after a transitional period, during which Britain would maintain market access by becoming an EFTA member state to protect British jobs and commercial interests, Flexcit's goal is to work to
abolish the EU's Single Market. The idea is to replace the Single Market with a
genuine, Europe-wide single market, administered from Geneva and
properly integrated into the global trading system. This would remove it from EU supranational political control, and free nations from having to adopt EU laws and directives.
With the demise of the EU's Single Market the principle
of freedom of movement, an integral part of the EU construct,
also ends. This would then allow for a complete renegotiation of the
arrangements for enabling labour mobility and visa-free travel
throughout the continent.
By then, with Britain firmly established outside the EU, without the
constraints of Article 50 and working with EFTA member states and other allies, Britain would be negotiating from a position of strength. As such, Britain would be
able to define a far more attractive settlement than could be obtained under
the time pressure of negotiating an EU exit.
It just cannot be done overnight, hence the need for the transition to be executed in phases. Just because the change would be conducted in phases it does not mean the change would not happen. Don't accept the misinformation of a vocal band of people who don't even have a plan of their own.
