While the Tories fight out their internal leadership woes, the job of properly leaving the European Union the last vestige of ECJ jurisdiction stalls, and Brexit is delayed, Brexit is denied!

The Tories hope to have whittled their leadership candidates down to the final two by the end of next week, just in time for the start of the parliamentary summer recess that lasts until the 5th of September, when we are due to find out who the new Tory party leader and therefore new Prime Minister is.

It’s at that point that we will start to get a clear idea of what the new PM’s Brexit aims are.

At the very, very least those aims should be to follow through fully on the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and the Bill of Rights Bill and make them law.

Although not ideal, at least the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, once through Royal Assent, will make it harder for the EU to weaponise the protocol against us. The best option however would be to scrap it in its entirety.

A new UK Bill of Rights, that removes the primacy of the European Convention on Human Rights over UK law, would allow us to have more control over our borders. Although leaving the Council of Europe and thereby leaving the convention would be the cleanest cut.

With a new PM will come a new chance for the Remainer establishment to try and block these bills going through. To use any delay they can, to try and keep the UK as closely aligned to EU law as possible, for as long as possible.

That must not be allowed to happen.

The new PM, whoever they are, needs to hit the ground sprinting on Brexit!

Lester Taylor

UK Independence Party – Spokesman for Brexit and Northern Ireland