Lord Frost warns of huge Brexit failure unless action taken: 'We need to reform fast!'

BREXIT Britain must urgently reform to break free of outdated EU models as a "national necessity", Lord Frost urged tonight.

EU hits out at Lord Frost's Northern Ireland demands

The minister said the economic firepower of the UK would not be unleashed until the country moved away from rules imported from Brussels. He warned an attempt to stick to the legislation and regulation first imposed on the UK by the EU would almost certainly lead to the failure of Brexit.

Lord Frost described leaving the bloc and the end of the transition period as just the beginning of the mammoth task in transforming Britain into a global power.

He told a conference organised by the Centre for Policy Studies this evening: "If after Brexit all we do is import the European Central model, we will not succeed.

"We haven't successfully rolled back the frontiers of the European Union, and Britain with Brexit, only to import in European model after all this time.

"So we need to reform fast and those reforms are going to involve doing things differently from the EU.

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Lord Frost urged for reform to rules imported from the EU

Lord Frost urged for reform to rules imported from the EU (Image: N/C)

"If we stick to EU models but behind our own tariff wall and with a smaller market, obviously, we're not going to succeed.

"That's why I so often take about divergence.

"Not for the sake of it but because it is a national necessity.

"All we're now doing is beginning this project and a Government.

"Though I'll be the first to admit there's a lot more to do."

Earlier this year the Government announced its plans to amend, replace, or repeal all that retained EU law that was not in the best interests of the UK.

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Lord Frost said work was already underway to reform redundant EU laws

Lord Frost said work was already underway to reform redundant EU laws (Image: CPS)

He said EU regulation risked holding Britain back

He said EU regulation risked holding Britain back (Image: CPS)

He said work had already begun on ditching all EU rules which risked holding back Britain in its plan to become a free market economy attracting investment from around the world.

Lord Frost said "changes to the nuts and bolts of some of the core frameworks underpinning the economy" had already been made in order to make regulation "less bureaucratic, more dynamic than the EU regimes we left behind".

He also proclaimed Britain was already reaping the benefits of freeing itself from the bloc.

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Brexit timeline: The UK's journey to freedom from the EU

Brexit timeline: The UK's journey to freedom from the EU (Image: EXPRESS)

The Conservative peer said: "Leaving the European Union changes many things for this country, but perhaps none more immediately and visibly than the UK’s ability to fully control its international trade policy.

"For the first time in almost five decades, the UK is once again fully in control of its external tariffs, how goods and services come into the UK, which countries we choose to strike bilateral deals with, and how we wish to engage in multilateral fora around the world.

"No more sitting silently behind the EU nameplate - instead a chance to really influence discussions in our own interests."

However, while pushing for urgent action on reforming EU rules still on the statute book, the Brexit minister warned the Northern Ireland Protocol remained "the most urgent and pressing problem" facing UK trade.

He said: "When we discuss trade in this country, we must not forget that our most urgent and pressing problem, an issue of the highest national interest, is to make sure we can trade freely within our own country.

"I don’t think that’s too much to ask."

He is currently locked in negotiations with the EU in a bid to change the way the Protocol is implemented to ease frictions caused by the mechanism.

Last week he gave a hint of a breakthrough saying there was "the potential to generate some momentum" in discussions.

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