Brexit isn't finished, yet.

We were supposed to have left the European Union on the 31st January 2020.

Our ability to freely make our own trade deals, control our borders, and decide our laws has returned to some degree, however, to be able to take action on those very issues, much work needs to be done, our ability to make decisions on immigration, for example, has been hampered by decisions by the European Court of Human Rights, and our existing Brexit legislation still permits Brussels influence over our future legislation and keeps us bound to Brussels writ.

There are currently around 2,400 EU laws still applying to the UK.

Section 29 of the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020 similarly makes a general modification to all existing domestic law, so far as necessary to comply with the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

There is a campaign, supported by trade unions, many Conservative MPs and those from opposition parties, to retain EU law, much of which is still in place as if the UK has never left.

Keeping EU laws means we are not truly free. Only by changing the law do we gain the benefits of the freedom we fought so hard to win.

Financial services still governed according to EU law. Fishing waters are still occupied and exploited by the EU depriving UK fleets, and Britain’s coastal towns, of a valuable resource. European Court judgements are still binding on EU retained law. The European Court of Justice determines the rights of EU citizens in the UK.

Furthermore, Northern Ireland has all the obligations as an EU member and no say in their formulation. That foreign laws would still apply to a Nation of the United Kingdom is extraordinary.

The Windsor Agreement states that:

1. The agreement delivers a form of dual regulation that will work for business and consumers in Northern Ireland, based on the restoration of Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market, and reflecting that by far the greatest portion of Northern Ireland’s economic life will continue to be based on trade within the United Kingdom. As a result over 1,700 pages of EU law - with accompanying European Court of Justice (ECJ) jurisdiction - are disapplied, meaning that core UK trade is based on core UK internal market rules, whether citizens and businesses are based in Belfast or Birmingham. This will ensure, for example, that the same UK food safety laws apply for retail goods moved into Northern Ireland; that VAT and excise rates apply UK-wide; and that medicines licensing will always be undertaken by the UK regulator for patients in Northern Ireland - without jeopardising access for Northern Ireland pharmaceutical firms to the EU market.
   

2. This agreement restores the balance of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement by fundamentally recasting arrangements in three key areas: restoring the smooth flow of trade within the UK internal market by removing the burdens that have disrupted East-West trade; safeguarding Northern Ireland’s place in the Union by addressing practical problems affecting the availability of goods from Great Britain, and the ability of Northern Ireland to benefit from UK-wide tax and spend policies; and addressing the democratic deficit that was otherwise at the heart of the old Protocol.
   

3. To restore the smooth flow of trade within the UK internal market, the new arrangements in this agreement set out concrete legal changes to remove red tape and checks for internal UK trade. While goods going to the EU will remain subject to full EU law checks and controls, bespoke arrangements, under a new UK internal market scheme, will scrap all unnecessary red tape for internal UK movements - including burdensome ‘third country’ processes such as officially-signed certificates for individual food products and customs declarations for consumer parcels. In their place will be new data-sharing arrangements to monitor and manage risks, with internal UK traders able to move goods without tariffs, on the basis of ordinary commercial information, and without physical checks unless there is a specific risk or intelligence basis, such as to prevent smuggling or other criminality.
   

4. To safeguard Northern Ireland’s place in the Union, the agreement provides legally binding, permanent solutions to a wide range of practical problems raised by citizens, businesses, and politicians in Northern Ireland. Products that were banned - such as seed potatoes, sausages, and British trees - will move again easily. Onerous requirements on pet travel have been removed. Plants and seeds for garden centres will move using the same arrangements as they do elsewhere within the UK internal market. VAT on energy-saving materials, such as solar panels and heat pumps, will be cut and changes to alcohol duties later this year will now be able to apply UK-wide, including the new draught relief for beer in pubs. And the deal secures a UK-wide regime for the approval and supply of medicines, removing any role for the European Medicines Agency and ensuring that medicines are available at the same time and on the same basis right across the United Kingdom.
   

5. Most importantly, to address the democratic deficit the agreement marks a definitive break from the legal and political framework that underpinned the old Protocol, with treaty change that provides a new underpinning of democratic oversight in line with the principles of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement. While the original Protocol ensured that any application of EU rules, and ECJ oversight, was subject to ongoing democratic consent, that was insufficient on its own to address concerns about the role of EU courts, as well as how to respect and protect the voice and interests of all communities in Northern Ireland. This agreement rectifies that by changing and rewriting the core dynamic alignment legal text as it stood in the old Protocol - entrenching democratic oversight and ending the prospect of damaging new goods rules being imposed on Northern Ireland.

Let's Hope it works!