Statement from The Rt Hon Priti Patel MP on the Vote of Confidence in The Rt Hon Theresa May MP as Conservative Party Leader
Witham MP Priti Patel has responded to the vote of confidence in favour of Theresa May continuing as Conservative Party Leader. Priti, who met with the Prime Minister yesterday on the day of the secret ballot [12 December 2018], discussed the future direction of the Party with her and the changes that should be made to the Brexit Deal. Priti said:
“The Prime Minister has won the vote of confidence and has a mandate to continue as Party Leader and Prime Minister. This has been a challenging few days but it is important that the Party moves forward and focuses on securing changes to the proposed Brexit deal.”
“As I made clear to the Prime Minister in our discussion, the deal needs changing to reflect the commitments we all gave to the electorate at the last General Election and to match the statements the Prime Minister previously made. The Withdrawal Agreement gives far too much to the EU and needs changing in a number of ways. This includes scrapping the provisions in the backstop that would effectively separate Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK, removing the measures that allow the EU to impose laws and rules on this country, ensuring that the jurisdiction of the European Court ends and not handing a single penny of taxpayers’ money over the Brussels until we get binding commitments from them on the future relationship and trade deal we seek.”
“I await with interest the outcome of the further discussions with the EU. However, if the EU do not show any meaningful flexibility then the Prime Minister should ensure that we are fully prepared to leave the EU on WTO terms.”
“As well as the important changes that are needed to get a Brexit deal through which is in the national interest, I also stressed to the Prime Minister the need to focus on the domestic agenda. This includes investment and reform to deliver new infrastructure, more housing and better public services as well as reducing the tax burden to support families and businesses.”