In an interview with Express.co.uk, Longworth revealed that the European Union is afraid that if the UK quits the bloc and manages to eliminate the EU’s red-tape, other member-states would also grow frustrated with Brussels.
“The EU fear a deregulated Britain, not just in the financial sector because the EU has created a sort of nanny state where people are restricted from doing things. It is sort of an Orwellian approach where big brother knows best and you will do what I say. Britain, in a deregulated environment will demonstrate that the British people are actually better not having that Orwellian Big Brother state loaded on them. Brussels fear that massively because if Britain thrives and prospers after leaving the EU in a deregulated environment it will demonstrate how bad the EU is,” Longworth said.
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He has also commented on Brexit secretary David Davis Vienna speech last month, when he announced that the UK’s withdrawal from the union would “not change the kind of country Britain is” as he attempted to reassure European business leaders in Vienna that future regulations would stay aligned with EU rules.
“I think what we will end up doing is trading with the world on World Trade Organization terms which is perfectly acceptable and is actually the basis on which most world trade takes place and incidentally is what all the American exports to the EU and all the Chinese exports to the EU take place. […] We will have an independent sovereign state, the UK which will be able to set its own laws, control its own borders and set its own regulations. But also, in addition to that, we will have a free trade deal between the UK and the EU between two sovereign states which is like the deal that the EU and Canada have, that will simply enable the free flow of goods.”
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Earlier this month, the European Commission had published the EU’s draft legal text on Brexit, which was harshly criticized by UK Prime Minister Theresa May.
"The PM said that the draft text put forward by the European Commission yesterday was unacceptable to the UK as it would, if implemented, undermine the UK common market and constitutional integrity of the UK," the prime minister’s press service said.
The Brexit referendum was held in June 2016, with almost 52 percent of Brits supporting the decision to leave the European Union. Negotiations over the “divorce,” launched a year later, are expected to be completed by the end of March 2019.
