EU Vote: Next steps are key
We need to make early moves to regain our seats, votes and voices on major international bodies, says John Redwood MP.
I was pleased to see that President Obama does wish to have a strong relationship between the USA and an independent Britain. I was not surprised to read that Mrs Merkel wants to protect the trade and friendship between Germany and The UK. Nor did it come as a shock to hear from various big businesses that they can manage the change of Brexit and see opportunities in the new landscape.
Brexit supporters need to be magnanimous in victory. We should welcome the overtures of overseas countries and companies. I always thought the world's fifth largest economy and member of the Security Council would still be worth a visit and be part of the normal diplomatic exchanges amongst the leaders of the world. We need to make early moves to regain our seats, votes and voices on major international bodies, which will mean more countries wanting to discuss matters with us, more ambassadors seeking UK support for their causes in world bodies.
The financial markets are still behaving in a strange way. The early mark downs on the first day after the vote were often extreme, with little evidence of much volume taking place at some of the sillier prices. Investors need to think through what if anything so far has changed in the UK economic outlook? The main overseas investors are committed to their current factories and commercial premises, like their work forces and want easy local access to our market. None of this alters thanks to Brexit.
There are always some companies that think they have found a better place to go for their next investment. In the EU a number have been bid or tempted away. There will also be others that now think about coming here, given the recent downwards movement in the value of the pound making us more competitive.
Those who wanted us to stay can be reminded that we are leaving the EU, not leaving Europe. There will still be plenty of student exchanges, cultural events, sporting contests, trade, investment and research collaboration. It will also be easier to be friends with our neighbours if we are not under constant pressure to agree our laws and taxes with 27 other countries.
This article has been republished with the kind permission of John Redwood MP. This and other articles are available from his blog.
John Alan Redwood, Baron Redwood, is a British politician and academic who represented Wokingham in Berkshire as Conservative Member of Parliament from 1987 to 2024. Born on 15 June 1951, he served as Secretary of State for Wales under John Major and twice stood unsuccessfully for the Conservative Party leadership during the 1990s. Following his ministerial career, Redwood held positions in the Shadow Cabinets of William Hague and Michael Howard before spending his remaining parliamentary years as a backbencher. Prior to entering Parliament, he earned a doctorate at All Souls College, Oxford and served as Director of the Number 10 Policy Unit under Margaret Thatcher.
A veteran Eurosceptic described in 1993 as a pragmatic Thatcherite, Redwood has been particularly known for his work on economic policy and European matters. He co-chaired the Conservative Party's Policy Review Group on Economic Competitiveness until 2010 and serves as Chief Global Strategist of investment management company Charles Stanley & Co Ltd. Redwood was a prominent supporter of Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum and was a member of the pressure group Leave Means Leave. He writes commentary for Comment Central.
