CX's plan for Brexit

As the dust settles on the UK's vote to leave the EU, the big question on everyones' lips is: What Now?

It is clear that the UK will have to negotiate a deal with the remaining EU but how should it go about it? And what about the rest of the world? Will free movement continue? Or perhaps be adapted to include a different set or subset of nations?

Commonwealth Exchange (CX) has a full plan for what to do next. Written by CX Directors Ralph Buckle and Tim Hewish, the plan was initially submitted to the Institute of Economic Affairs' Brexit Prize (in Tim's name) where it claimed a place on the podium and wide renown.

Since then, the plan has also been published as part of the IEA's "Brexit: Directions for Britain Outside the EU"

In addition, CX has published additional research around the topic, particularly focusing on immigration and trade policy:

• "How to Solve a Problem Like a Visa" making recommendations to fix the UK's broken immigration system
• "The Commonwealth's Call to Duty" suggesting ways for the UK to build on its defence links with countries around the world
• "Why Trade in Commonwealth Markets", our guide showing why trade is already easier with Commonwealth countries even before any new trade deals are signed
• Polling showing majority public support across the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada for a free-movement zone between the four countries

Media wishing to arrange interviews or request a comment should email ralph@commonwealth-exchange.org or call the media mobile listed here.

Craig Mackinlay MP calls for Brexit to offer fairer deal to Commonwealth citizens

Conservative MP for South Thanet Craig Mackinlay has cited the unfair deal Commonwealth citizens get from the UK among his reasons for supporting Brexit. Speaking in a Parliamentary debate about the UK's EU membership, Mr Mackinlay said:

"We have to recognise that trade has changed—that the world is now a global place and trade barriers have come down. A lot of these trade areas are good, friendly nations—Commonwealth nations. I always find it very strange that our friends—our kith and kin; our family—extract their wallets and purses and find, lo and behold, a note with a very familiar and loved face on it, but we deny them access to our country, and we are not allowed to speak to them on trade terms"

While Commonwealth Exchange does not take an institutional position on whether the UK should leave the EU, we do share Mr Mackinlay's frustrations, particularly on the issue of migration and visas, as highlighted in our report "How to Solve a Problem like a Visa" which shed light on the parlous state of Commonwealth migration and provided six practical proposals to improve the situation.

We have also published an award winning plan for what the UK should do if it were to leave the EU. Our proposals are based on a reinvigorated trading Commonwealth network. You can read it here.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP stands up for Commonwealth migration and backs reform or Brexit

Conservative MP Anne-Marie Trevelyan has confirmed that, unless the UK secures major EU reform, she will back Brexit. When questioned on her position she has cited the unfair deal Commonwealth citizens get when it comes to UK migration policy as well as trade relations.

She said:

"It is my personal view that Great Britain has always been a nation which welcomes those from around the world who want to come to live and work here.

“I will always be an MP who believes in a good migration policy which we determine, not one which forces us to exclude Commonwealth nation citizens because we cannot control EU citizen movements. I do not want to see the UK remain within an EU which continues to move towards a federated states of Europe.

“We have always been, and can remain, trade partners and strong political allies with other European nations, whilst maintaining our sovereignty.”

You can read more about the current parlous state of Commonwealth migration in the UK and the impact this is having on us economically, socially, and culturally in our report "How to Solve a Problem like a Visa." You will also find six practical and pragmatic solutions to improve the situation.

You can also read our award winning Brexit Prize submission here.

CX is putting the Commonwealth on the agenda

Part of our mission at CX is reminding the UK of its Commonwealth opportunities and potential as well as ensuring that the Commonwealth is at the heart of public debate and political discussion.

In the last few days we've been doing just that, publishing a number of articles on a variety of topics and platforms. Here are a few of our recent pieces:

Telegraph: Commonwealth citizens could swing the EU referendum

Our Chairman Lord Howell and our Executive Director Tim Hewish have written for the Daily Telegraph pointing out that Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK will be able to vote in the upcoming EU referendum.

They could represent a swing of up to 6%, more than enough to change the outcome. Both sides of the debate would be foolish to ignore these crucial potential voters.

Read the full piece here.

ConHome: The Government is wrong. We need more students from the Commonwealth to stay and work in Britain.

Our Director Ralph Buckle wrote for the ConservativeHome website attacking government proposals further cracking down on international students wishing to work in the UK.

He concludes: "even the suggestion of [these proposals] is damaging Britain in myriad ways. If they are implemented, it could take decades for us to recover."

Read it here.

The Commentator: UK could do a lot worse than becoming “an Atlantic Singapore”

Ralph also wrote for The Commentator at the weekend. He rebutted an article which was critical of Singapore and instead said that the UK could learn a lot from the city state.

He argued that "Singapore is easily one of the most open nations on the planet, and one of the least corrupt... In or out of the EU, Britain could certainly do with a dose of Singapore’s entrepreneurial zeal."

You can find the article here.

ConWayForward: Six reasons to support free trade with the Commonwealth

Completing a hat-trick of articles, Ralph also penned a piece for Conservative Way Forward's blog.

He set out six reasons why the Commonwealth should be our first port of call for increasing and liberalising trade.

See if you agree here.

Prime Minister backs Commonwealth trade

It looks like David Cameron may have been listening to us as he has used an article in today's Daily Mail to explicitly call for more trade with the Commonwealth.

In the piece he writes:

"With some of our neighbours’ economies stagnating and markets further afield roaring ahead, we need to change our approach. We need to go to the ends of the earth to sell our wares – to recapture the outward-looking, enterprising spirit that made us great. 

I want us to be nothing less than the modern world’s most open, trade-minded nation. To do that, we must tap into markets outside Europe; to look to the Commonwealth and beyond. There’s plenty of potential."

Needless to say, we couldn't agree more!

As our Director argued on the CWF blog yesterday, the Commonwealth is ideally suited to be Britain's gateway to the World.

However the Prime Minister's words do need to be backed up with action.

For example, the recent completion of the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA) is welcome but the process has been consistently delayed and implementation is now unlikely until 2016. This is simply not good enough as the below chart shows.

As we argued in our award winning Brexit prize entry, EU trade deals are taking far too long and either speeding them up or repatriating the ability for Britain to sign our own deals needs to be a top priority.

We welcome the Prime Minister arguing for greater Commonwealth trade but he needs to convince Brussels to do the same.