The Cabinet this week  debates what kind of a country we wish to be, and how we should be governed once we leave the EU.

The vision of Leave was uplifting. We want to belong to an independent democratic country.

We want to take back control of our laws, our borders and our money.

The people reasserted their sovereignty. They now wish their Parliament to act in their interests. They want the UK Parliament to spend the taxes raised on our priorities. They want the UK Parliament to pass wise and humane laws. They want the UK government to have a confident global vision, acting in the best interests of our country and acting for the wider good.

We did not vote to be some minor state following meekly the EU’s laws and policies. We voted for our country to regain its vote and voice in global bodies. We voted to be friends and trading partners with the EU, but not to be part of its legal system and budgets.

This vision means, as the PM says, leaving the EU and its single market and customs union on 29 March 2019 in accordance with the Treaty.

It means from that date  being able to pursue our own agenda in world councils, and to negotiate our own trade deals and partnerships.

It means seeking the best possible access to the EU’s single market, knowing we can have general access through our membership  of the World Trade Organisation, where the EU also is a member and accepts its rules .

It means being able to amend and improve our laws whether the EU is doing so or not.

It means welcoming EU students, tourists, investors, people coming to jobs with permits, people wishing to live here on their own resources.

It means having our own fair policy for the whole world on access to benefits and work.

It means having our own fishing and farming policies, seeking to rebuild home  output for the home market.

It means spending our money on priorities at home, and on helping those most in  need elsewhere in the world.

It means being a force for the good in the world, using our soft power and military capability to promote peace, free trade, democracy and greater prosperity.

Debbie Abrahams MP, Shadow Work and
Pensions Secretary,
commenting on the Government’s announcement to extend auto-enrolment to workers
aged 18, said:

“The Government’s announcement to
extend auto-enrolment to workers aged 18 is a small step in the right
direction. However, it is worrying that the income threshold still means people
on the lowest incomes are not automatically included and enrolled in a
workplace pension, excluding hundreds of thousands of part-time and temporary
workers. 

“Given that plans will also not be
in place until the mid-2020s, coupled with the fact that people under 25
receive a lower living wage, many young people will continue to miss out both
now and in their retirement.

“Labour
will restore confidence in the workplace pension system ensuring it benefits
the many not the few.”

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Rebecca
Long-Bailey MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy, commenting on reports today that Brexit ministers urge
Theresa May to scrap EU working directive, said:

“This yet more
evidence that senior Tories, including Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, want to
use Brexit as an excuse to rip up workers’ rights.

“Theresa May
must publicly reject this approach and condemn it in this week’s Cabinet
meeting. If she fails to do so then she will have turned her back on
British workers. The directive offers protection to millions of workers who
without it will be vulnerable to exploitation from unscrupulous employers.
 

“It is becoming
increasingly clear that a Conservative Brexit will weaken workers’ rights,
deregulate the economy and slash corporate taxes. Labour will protect workers’
rights and ensure that everyone gets a fair deal at work.”

Ends