A Message from our Patron: Mr Stuart Gill O.B.E.
The British High Commissioner.
It’s less than a year until we leave the European Union and there’s much still to be done. Once we’ve left in March next year, we’ll have a twenty one month period to implement everything we have agreed with the EU, so nothing will fundamentally change until the end of 2020.
People still ask me whether we really will be leaving, but the direction of travel is very clear. We shall be taking back control of our borders, our money and our laws. To do this, we shall be leaving the Customs Union and Single Market, leaving us free to agree our own trade agreement across the world and we’ll no longer be under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. As I know we keep repeating, we will be leaving the institutions of the EU but not leaving Europe. We want to maintain a close relationship with the EU. We are aiming for a trade agreement with the EU to give us as frictionless trade as possible and we want a close security partnership with the EU. It is in no one’s interest to erect trade barriers and we all face the same security threats. Working together on all this is a no-brainier. No one said this would be easy – and so it has proved – but we have already achieved what many people told us would be impossible, notably the progress on the Withdrawal Agreement. This includes the settlement on the position of EU citizens after we leave. We said right from the start that preserving the rights of EU citizens was a priority and we have worked to achieve just that.
Thrashing out our future partnership with the EU is what we are all doing now and will continue to do over the coming months. We have much to do and I know you might have questions about how Brexit will ultimately affect you. I have enjoyed speaking to many of you, individually or at your regular meetings, but I and my team at the British High Commission continue to stand ready to answer your questions as best we can!
In the meantime, isn’t it nice to be able to say “It’s summer”!
Stuart Gill. O.B.E.
