(25/10/19) By Richard Fullerton, Chair of UKIP Cambs & SE Cambs. Image via @aelfgifuart.

Let us be clear - Boris Johnson's Withdrawal Deal is a pig. It is a bad deal for Britain and he is trying to force it through Parliament with the minimum of scrutiny. He wants to 'Get Brexit done' because he has committed to us leaving on 31st October. This will not happen now, hence his desperation. The latest act in this farce is his 'offer' to the opposition of an election on 12th December if they agree to a revised scrutiny timetable up to 6th November for the Withdrawal Bill. This will be rejected and the zombie Parliament will carry on.

What amazes us is why the ERG have agreed to support his deal, which is a reheated version of Treasoner May's deal with the backstop removed and a Political Declaration (PD) which is at least not legally-binding. But a look at the fine detail reveals what a terrible deal this would be....

During the ‘transition period’ (which supposedly ends on 2020 but will almost certainly be extended whilst the EU drags out negotiations for the final deal), we won’t withdraw from the EU at all but become non-voting members. We will still be trapped in the EU Customs Union and Single Market, subject to all existing EU laws and any punitive new ones they might pass.

Our former leader, Nigel Farage, is correct in saying that our fishing industry should be the acid test for evaluating any deal. After the transition, the PD signs us up to sharing ‘access to water and quota shares’. That means a sell-out again of our fishermen.

The Treaty also restricts UK sovereignty by preventing us taking ‘any action likely to conflict with or impede’ EU foreign policy. What UK government could possibly sign us up to that? The answer is a Tory one desperate to get a face-saving result so that they can go to the country in a general election and say they've delivered Brexit. But it will be BRINO - Brexit In Name Only.

This deal is a pig. Boris has put lipstick on May's deal. But it is still a pig. To understand more, read this excellent post by The Brexit Party explaining this pig of a deal. The only solution is to leave the EU with No Deal and negotiate from a position of strength.