Jeremy Corbyn reveals leaked Brexit documents

Thank you all for being here.

In this election we’ve shown how Boris Johnson is trying to hijack Brexit to sell out our NHS and working people.

He is trying to hijack the hope for change that many people had in 2016 and use it for his own ends.

For Johnson Brexit is about something very different from what most people voted for.

For him it’s about reversing the hard-fought gains won by working class people over generations so that the corporations and the billionaires can cream off more profits.

It’s about unleashing Thatcherism on steroids.

Johnson and his Conservatives know there’s no support for the damaging agenda they want to inflict on our country. So they’re trying to do it under the banner of Brexit instead.

But Labour is exposing their deception.

Last week, we revealed the secret plot to sell out our NHS as part of a toxic deal with Donald Trump which could mean our NHS paying £500 million a week more for medicines.

As trade experts have since confirmed the NHS is very much on the table in those talks.

But the secret documents not only shredded Johnson’s credibility on the NHS they undermined his credibility on Brexit too.

“Get Brexit done” the Tory slogan at the heart of this election campaign is a fraud on the British people.

While Labour will get Brexit sorted in six months – because we won’t be ripping up our main trading relationship – Johnson’s deal will be just the beginning of years more painful negotiations and broken promises.

And today I can reveal further hard evidence that Johnson is deliberately misleading the people about his deal.

What we have here is a confidential report by Johnson’s own government marked “official – sensitive” that exposes the falsehoods that Boris Johnson has been peddling.

This is the cold, hard evidence that categorically shows the impact Johnson’s damaging Brexit deal will have on large parts of our country.

Fifteen pages that paint a damning picture of Johnson’s deal on the issue of Northern Ireland in particular.

We caught the Tories red-handed selling out our NHS in the Trump trade talks and now we’ve caught Johnson red-handed misrepresenting his own Brexit deal.

So let’s test some of Johnson’s claims against his own government’s findings.

Johnson has said definitively and I quote, “there will be no checks between Northern Ireland and Great Britain” under his deal.

He told the people of Northern Ireland to their faces “There will be no forms, no checks, no barriers of any kind – you will have unfettered access.”

Now look at page 5 of this confidential report.

In private, the government says something very different.

It says there will be customs declarations and security checks between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

It’s there in black and white.

For trade going from Northern Ireland to Great Britain the government cannot rule out regulatory checks rules of origin checks and animal and public health checks.

And for trade going the other way from Great Britain to Northern Ireland there will be all of the above plus, potentially, damaging tariffs.

This drives a coach and horses through Boris Johnson’s claim that there will be no border in the Irish Sea.

It’s simply not true.

Johnson’s deal will be disastrous for businesses and jobs across the whole UK. 

And the government’s confidential report confirms this.

Let me remind you Johnson said his deal was, I quote, “a great deal” for Northern Ireland.

But look at page 8 of the confidential report for what his own government really thinks: his deal will inflict huge economic damage on Northern Ireland.

It will, I quote, be “highly disruptive to the Northern Irish economy.”

It says this deal will be the equivalent of imposing tariffs on 30% of all purchases in Northern Ireland.

What will that mean? The report spells it out: “high street goods [are] likely to increase in price” which is “likely to affect business profitability.”

If that’s how Johnson defines a “great deal” for Northern Ireland what’s he got in store for the rest of us?

In fact this isn’t just about Northern Ireland.

Page 9 of the confidential report reveals that Johnson’s damaging deal may have, quote, “a significant effect” on the economies of Scotland and Wales.

This is people’s livelihoods we’re talking about. So why is the government hiding this information from the people of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland?

And there’s more. Page 10 warns of the potential for fraud saying Northern Ireland could become, quote, “a back door into the GB market for the avoidance of import duties.”

Let’s test another of Johnson’s claims.

When I debated him in the first leaders’ debate on ITV Johnson said, and I’m quoting him again: “We have a deal that keeps the whole of the UK together as we come out of the EU.”

Compare and contrast page 12 of his government’s secret report. I quote: “The Withdrawal Agreement has the potential to separate Northern Ireland in practice from whole swathes of the UK’s internal market” meaning Northern Ireland will be, quote: “symbolically separated from the union.”

 Remember when Johnson spoke at the DUP conference last year, he told them that no British Conservative government could ever countenance such a thing. He sold out his friends in the DUP after promising he wouldn’t. How can you trust that his deal doesn’t sell you out?

There will be other secret reports like this one in every government department that reveal the disastrous impact of Johnson’s damaging deal on the safety of the food you eat, on the rights you have at work, on the pollution in the air you breathe and on the jobs and industries that you work in.

Those reports exist but the government is hiding them from you because in this election the Conservatives want you to vote blind.

Ask yourself: if they hid this report what else are they hiding? How will they sell you out?

At every stage throughout this campaign Johnson has chosen to deepen divisions. His whole political strategy is to turn one side of the Brexit debate against the other. I start from a very different place.

I believe a prime minister must talk to and listen to the whole country because we have to bring our divided country together. And if, as a result people accuse me of talking to both sides at once in the Brexit debate then so be it. I’m proud of it.Why would I only want to talk to half the country? I don’t want to live in half a country.

That’s why I’ve set out honestly how a Labour government will sort Brexit so we can bring our country together and get on with delivering the real change that people are crying out for.

First, Labour will quickly secure a sensible deal based on terms we’ve already discussed with the EU including a new customs union a close single market relationship and guarantees of rights and protections.

 Unlike Johnson’s fraudulent Brexit, a deal on our terms will respect the priceless peace in Northern Ireland and protect manufacturing and people’s jobs and then we’ll put that deal to a public vote within six months.

Those who want to leave the EU without selling out our NHS or trashing our economy will be able to vote for it. Those who want to remain in the EU will be able to vote for that. Either way only a Labour government will take the decision out of the hands of politicians and trust the people with the final say. And in that vote I will be an honest broker not taking sides committed to carrying out whatever the people decide, because once the decision has been made we will need a prime minister able to speak to both sides if we are to bring the country together.

I think we’ve had just about enough of this division. We’ve had just about enough of the government only listening to half the people. Labour stands not just for the 52 per cent or the 48 per cent but for the 99 per cent and people can trust Labour to honour our commitments.

Johnson pretends the NHS is not on the table in toxic talks with Trump just as he pretends there won’t be a border in the Irish Sea but the truth is not even his own government believes him.

I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions as to whether Johnson’s statements are consistent with the new evidence I have revealed today but it’s no wonder he is avoiding scrutiny in this election campaign.

On Brexit as on our NHS and public services you cannot trust the Conservatives.

It’s time for real change.

Notes to Editors

Background note on NI protocol

●   Boris Johnson is deliberately misleading voters about his Brexit deal. The Northern Ireland Protocol is one of the few parts of the WA that Johnson actually negotiated to be different from Theresa May’s already three-times rejected deal. He told voters that his version of the deal was a great deal for NI and GB, delivering unfettered access and no hard borders.

●   However, this secret analysis takes readers through a range of trading scenarios between Great Britain (GB) and Northern Ireland (NI), and every single possible scenario comes to the same conclusion - that Johnson deliberately misled the country about what his Brexit deal really means for trade, the economy and the union.

●   The analysis shows that Johnson has a choice to make – either he delivers unfettered access for Northern Ireland to the UK Internal Market (UKIM) as promised, risking economic and political chaos across the UK. Or, he could choose to introduce restrictions to access which protects UKIM but could risk breaking a number of international trade rules, and drive a coach and horses through the Good Friday Agreement.

●   Jonson cannot deliver the Brexit he has promised to voters.

●   Slide 2 – No unfettered access without breaching EU law

o  Johnson previous told Northern Irish business to their face: There will be no forms, no checks, no barriers of any kind – you will have unfettered access.” Boris Johnson, BBC 08 November 2019 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-50352678

o  Slide 2 quotes Article 6 of the Northern Irelands Protocol that says, “Nothing in the Protocol shall prevent the United Kingdom form ensuring unfettered market access for goods moving from Northern Ireland to other parts of the United Kingdom’s internal Market.”

o  However, this slide makes clear that unfettered access will be ‘constrained by the internal obligations applying to NI by application of EU Law’ AND ‘At minimum, exit summary declarations will be required when goods are exported from NI to GB in order to meet EU obligations’.

 o  This means that additional paperwork will be required for goods moving across the Irish Sea.

o  Johnson has clearly been deliberately misleading about the need for forms and checks, and the UK will continue to be influenced by some EU laws and obligations.

o  It also makes clear that further difficult trade-offs will need to be made, which undermined claims made by Johnson, which are discussed further in slides 15 and 16.

 ●   Slides 3 / 4 /5 – Potential Fetters

o  Slide 3 and 4 hints that the government will desperately try to redefine what ‘unfettered’ means as they know that what the Prime Minister has promised does not meet any reasonable definition of the truth. 

o  Crucially Slide 5 lists the potential fetters on access between GB and NI. It confirms that there will be Tariffs; customs declarations; rules of origin checks, SPS and regulatory checks, alongside a host of still unanswered questions on the extent of fettered access. 

o  However, given the whole point of Johnson's deal is to diverge in large scale from the EU, there is no way the question marks on slide 5 would turn into anything else than further restrictions.

o  This means there will be financial and administrative costs to businesses who want to trade across between GB and NI. Previous analysis found the administrative cost to business of these checks could be as high as £11.2 billion a year.https://insider.labour.org.uk/factcheck/revealed-boris-johnsons-customs-declaration-plan-to-cost-business-the-equivalent-of-over-400000-jobs/

o  This again proves that he lied about his Brexit deal; Johnson has to tell business across the country how much they will have to pay for additional checks and paper work under his deal.

●   Slides 7 / 8 / 9 – Impact on the economy from fettered access.

o  Johnson told the people of Northern Ireland “Northern Ireland has got a great deal. You keep free movement. You keep access to the single market but you also have, as it says in the deal, unfettered access to GB.” Boris Johnson, The Independent 08 November 2019, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-deal-boris-johnson-northern-ireland-speech-general-election-single-market-a9194476.html

o  Slide 7 highlights that 98% of the £11.3bn in sales from NI to GB is done through SMEs, and that 70% of the goods bought from GB to NI end up on high streets.

o  Slide 8 contains a critical assessment for the NI Economy, contracting the Prime Minister, this is not a good deal for NI Businesses, saying that: “Customs declarations and documentary and physical checks on W/E and E/W trade will be highly disruptive” and that “SMEs are likely to struggle to bear this cost.”

o  While for imports a tariff equivalence to 30% increase in prices means “High Street goods are likely to increase in price – likely to affect business profitability” and “key employment sectors such as retail likely to be hit.” 

o  Slide 9 highlights the potential impact on the GB economy, but crucially no real economic assessments have yet been conducted. It claims the economies in Wales and Scotland are likely to be affected to most by trade disruption.

o  This document clearly outlines a significant economic risk to Northern Ireland that will hit jobs, employers and consumers across key sectors. The government have so far refused to conduct or at least publish a full economic impact assessment of their deal. Johnson has to tell people what the economic cost of his deal will be.

●   Slides 10 /11 / 12 /13 – Unfettered Access: Impact for British business

o  The Tory manifesto claimed they will: Get Brexit done - and we restore confidence and certainty to businesses and families. (P.2) 

o  However, slide 10 shows that if Boris Johnson decided to take extreme measures to provide NI business with unfettered access, there would be a tangible risk to British business and producers. 

o  “Northern Ireland could become a backdoor into the GB market for the avoidance of import duties, even with a zero-tariff UK/EU FTA”. This means undocumented goods would flow in from the EU having circumvented UK tariff and regulatory controls. 

o  Slide 11 clearly lays out how circumvention risk would play out with goods travelling through the Island or Ireland into GB having avoided UK tariff ad regulatory controls. 

o  Slide 12 argues that greater access the higher the increases in risk to the UKIM: “Unfettered access has the potential to undermine the coherence of the UKIM and embed a fundamental asymmetry in its functioning. 

o  Slide 13 makes clear that Level Playing Fields would also undermine unfettered access.

o  With such risk to British business, it is difficult to see how Johnson can claim in his manifesto that this deal would provide certainty to businesses.

o  He has lied to consumers and businesses about the true impact of his deal and now needs to come clean to voters about the real extent of the risk from circumvention; and what the cost will be to the GB economy and businesses.

●   Slide 12 – Withdrawal Agreement: Impact on the union

o  The Tory Manifesto claims: “Boris Johnson’s new deal takes the whole country out of the EU as one United Kingdom. “ 

o  The analysis on slide 12 clearly demonstrates that the WA presents a significant risk to the Union where with fettered access: “The WA has the potential to separate NI in practice form whole swathes of the UK’s internal market.”

o  However - “Unfettered access has the potential to undermine the coherence of the UKIM and embed a fundamental asymmetry in its functioning.”

o  On top of this, the analysis argues that the WA is likely to invoke strong reactions from other devolved administrations against perceived advantages to NI business either into UKIM or into EU markets.

o  The analysis warns anything less than unfetters access could symbolically separate NI from the union. Boris promised in his manifesto: We will negotiate a trade agreement next year – one that will strengthen our Union” and “Our commitment to the 1998 Belfast Agreement and its successor agreements is unshakeable.” 

o  Johnson has deliberately mislead the public about how his deal will impact on the Union, he now needs to be honest with the public and tell us how he plans to provide unfettered access whilst protecting the economies of England, Wales and Scotland.

●   Slide 14/15 – Johnson has a choice to make

o  Johnson has not been clear with the British public. His deal means he has to make a choice - whether to protect the UK internal Market and inflict significant economic damage on Northern Ireland, risking the peace process. Alternatively, he allows unfettered access, breaching international law, and risking the UKIM being flooded with unregulated goods, which would put at risk the ability to agree trade deals with other countries. 

o  Slides 14 and 15 present the full range of scenarios that Johnson could reach based on high or low friction E/W and W/E in a table; highlighting the impact to trade, the economy, international law and the political union. 

o  The table lays bare the stark choice Johnson faces – his deal can never simultaneously be compatible with WTO rules, good for the Northern Irish economy and good for British business. 

o  This is not the Brexit deal he has tried to sell the British voters. Boris Johnson must come clean and what his choice will be if reflected.