Owen Paterson back and fighting for Brexit

As Parliament gears up for its new beginnings, however you look at it, and whatever your politics might be, this next sitting is set to be one of the most important in our lifetime. The word ‘Brexit’ must be a clue.

And a principal member in this great national debate is long time Eurosceptic and our senior local Member of Parliament here in Shropshire, Owen Paterson.

Always good company and a real inspiration in the passion he has for his beliefs, not for nothing is he well respected as well as liked.

One summertime treat for me this year was a day for a sunny lunch at the pub with the MP, a time for chatting about past, present and future. It was a chance to enjoy lunch and a chat with my special guest whose year began with a serious accident, when he broke critical bones in his neck and back.

After less than six weeks, he was still under advice to wear his supportive neck collar, and indeed, he did have it to hand when he arrived at the Black Bear Inn in Whitchurch. Not around his neck but tucked into a yellow plastic bag!

Ask him now about his progress and he says he is improving which has to be true judging by his hectic political life in his constituency as well as on the national stage.

This particular politician has far too much to think about to dwell on his health. But his horse riding accident was actually far more serious than he had perhaps sometimes let you think.

Though once he was on the mend, Owen said: “Apparently I was very lucky not to have suffered more serious injury. But I was so relieved to be to be in this incredible world class unit at the Orthopaedic hospital in Gobowen. The staff are exceptionally professional, exceedingly caring and have a huge amount of expertise.”

Ironically, back in 2011Owen and equally intrepid wife Rose – chairman of Aintree race course among other things – raised a massive £60,000 for the very unit in which he then found himself by taking part in the world’s toughest horse race, the Mongol Derby. As well as another £60,000 for the Royal Irish Regiment Benevolent Fund.

He says: “It was 14 hours a day of hard riding for nine days on 25 different and often difficult horses. Some riders broke ribs, shoulders and other bones and we always said how lucky we were to complete the Mongol Derby with no injuries.”

An irony indeed. But this year, he has experienced first hand all that the fantastic Orthopaedic Hospital has meant. Happily, Owen is now very much heading in the right direction. Known and admired in the county and farther afield, even this happy little lunchtime outside the pub and with a delicious menu over which to pore, brought forth a number of other diners and passers-by who clearly know our man.

Mind you, he was born in Whitchurch and still lives near Ellesmere.

Now, as a new Parliamentary year is about to dawn MPs face the prospect of yet more hours with the now inflammatory words Brexit and Chequers illuminating so many debates, meetings and parliamentary sessions.

Though sometimes, the topic to engage constituents will be a very different one. Owen says: “When I was at Oswestry Show this year, I couldn’t walk 10 yards without somebody coming up and saying they were furious about the Chequers issue. They only calmed down when they realised that I was even more furious than they were! It is the People against the Establishment.”

So not only does Owen know his stuff, he also knows and loves his patch. It is always a pleasure to catch up with him. So passionate is he about what he does, how he got there and what he hopes for.

But suffice to say that when you get behind the happy chat and bring reality to the fore, this is a fascinating chap to be with. And here he was, having just opened a Whitchurch shop next door, and now enjoying a cracking lunch and a bit of reminiscing with neck collar to hand.

North Shropshire’s Member of Parliament was on pretty good form. Indeed you wouldn’t have much of a clue that less than six months beforehand, Owen had fallen from his horse and broke four pretty critical bones in his neck and back.

Now that he’s well on the mend and so thankful to even be alive, it’s as though he has a new and even stronger zest for life. He knows how close he was to a far worse scenario and one from which recovery could have had a massive impact on the lives of the whole family, his wife Rose, their children and much farther reaching.

So this is one very grateful politician. Though because Owen Paterson has that kind of derring-do attitude to life and sees challenges rather than problems, he is usually listened to and now, he is back speaking up vigorously for his constituency and as he has done for so many years, for his nation. And when Parliament reassembles, these Paterson views will be well aired again.

The MP grew up on his family’s farm, read history at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, then intriguingly, went on to the National Leathersellers College which is now the British School of Leather Technology at the University of Northampton.

The reason for that was his family’s tanning business, of which he was to become managing director. He has been President of the Confederation of National Associations of Tanners and Dressers of the European Community, and is a Freeman of the City of London and a Liveryman of the Leathersellers’ Company.

At the 1992 general election, Owen unsuccessfully contested Wrexham but in 1997 the man who was to become a leading politician was elected as Member of Parliament for North Shropshire more than 20 eventful years ago.

And he was soon noticed. He joined David Cameron’s Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. During the formation of the Coalition Government in 2010, he was appointed to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, where he remained until being moved to DEFRA in 2012. He is widely known of course as a leading supporter of Brexit and an outspoken critic of the European Union.

In 2014, he established and became the chairman of UK 2020, a centre-right think tank based in Westminster. In 2016, Paterson became part of the Leave Means Leave political advisory board.

But where did this passion for politics come from? Owen says: “Well I was always interested but not involved when I was at Cambridge. And I did have an interesting business career which I enjoyed very much.”

But now it is very serious politics indeed. And the incoming Commons year will see the very serious politicians in action. So just where does Owen Paterson stand on this vexed issue of Brexit, Chequers, another election, Leavers, Remainers, No Deal and so on?

'A complete botch'

He says: “The Chequers Agreement is a complete botch. It cannot deliver the clear Conservative manifesto pledge to leave the Single Market, the Customs Union and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in anything but name. It would do extraordinary damage to public trust in democracy by failing to implement the largest vote that has ever been recorded in our history.

“The agreement would oblige the UK and the EU to adopt a ‘common rulebook’ for trade in goods. All trade deals require some kind of agreement on standards, but this is different. The so-called ‘common’ rules are, in fact, the EU’s rules and cover all the laws concerning goods in the Single Market. So “common”, apparently, means the UK having to obey all EU laws over a wide area, whilst having lost the ability to vote on those laws in the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.

“Compare that to the misnamed ‘no deal’ option: World Trade Organisation terms.

“As a full member of the WTO in our own right, we would have the power to vote on global regulations as well as to initiate new standards and propose amendments to existing ones alongside our allies. We would begin to use the vast amounts of money which we send to the EU on our own priorities, withdrawing our offer of a £39 billion “divorce bill”. Recognising that 90 per cent of economic growth over the next decade will be outside the EU, we would negotiate free trade deals with many countries around the world who seek freer trade with the UK. We would set our own regulatory framework, tailored to the needs of 100 per cent of our economy, not just the 12 per cent involved in exports to the EU.

“We could pass our own, democratically-accountable laws to meet our own priorities and our own requirements. Any deal that the Prime Minister brings forward has to be better than that, or I will vote against it.”

Well, by next year we should know. And the passions which are driving so many Members of Parliament are also driving all of us, especially those who think there should now be another stab at a referendum on Europe . . . eventful days indeed!