David Davis MP comments on post-Brexit deregulation
As published by The Daily Express:
BORIS JOHNSON has been urged to fully exploit the freedoms of Brexit, as former Brexit Secretary David Davis revealed the real reason why his successor Lord David Frost resigned from the cabinet.
Lord David Frost stunned Westminster in December when he quit as chief Brexit negotiator, but his predecessor David Davis has revealed the real reason behind the move. Speaking to LBC’s Camilla Tominey, Mr Davis complained that Britons had not seen enough benefits from Brexit yet. He urged Boris Johnson to “get more aggressive” and take advantage of the deregulation that Brexit offers.
Camilla Tominey asked: “What do you think about the fact we don’t seem to have seen any Brexit dividend?
“We were meant to be emerging from the bloc as this global, competitive free-trade leader.
“But now our corporate tax is as high as France.”
Mr Davis responded: “That is what triggered David Frost’s resignation.”
He continued: “Like me, he saw that there were opportunities to be had out of Brexit but you had to grasp them!
“There weren’t just going to land in your lap.”
Ms Tominey pressed: “Was he not been aggressive enough in grasping them?”
Mr Davis said: “I don’t think the Government has generally.
“We have a spectacular example of how successful deregulation can be with the vaccine success.
“We beat the world at that. We accelerated the time it took to get something cleared.
“It reinforces David Frost’s point that Boris Johnson has to insist on his own instincts.”
This comes as Lord Frost used his first major interview since leaving the cabinet to warn Mr Johnson to commit to low taxes and the free market or risk losing the next election
The Tory peer told the Mail on Sunday: “We need to get the country going economically again and that means free markets, free debate and low taxes.
“People need to look at this country and think: yes, something is changing here. You’ve got to set the direction of travel.
“If we’re going to get out of this little trough and win the election in a couple of years’ time, then we’ve got to develop that.”
Senior members of the cabinet like Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the Commons, have also pressed Mr Johnson to scrap his plans for a rise in national insurance contributions this April.