John Longworth

What are committed Brexiteers to make of Boris Johnson’s deal? It’s said that some Tories are cheering a compromise out of blind party loyalty – but I’m not sure I can be accused of that. I have devoted the last five years in pursuit of Brexit, and stood against the Tories in the last European election. But the political part is over. We now have a deal, and the question is whether it’s the real deal. I’d like to do two things: point out the many problems with this deal – problems that other Brexiteers are quiet about. But I’d also like to explain why, nonetheless, the deal is worthy of support. Even celebration. As Ursula Von Der Leyen said, it certainly has been a long and winding road - for me especially.

The well-known saying goes, ‘there is nothing to fear but fear itself’. This certainly should be the mantra of Brexit. Disruptive as it might be, Brexit should be the reset button for an enterprise economy, a bright new future of growth and entrepreneurialism, open and free markets – in effect a ‘New Model Economy’ – but few are making the case for this. Certainly, the government isn't. When I became director general of the British Chambers of Commerce over six years ago, one of my first media interviews led me to say that I thought there was no political party in the UK that truly represented business. By that I meant enterprise and entrepreneurialism.