Daniel Zeichner, MP for Cambridge, has slammed the leaked UK-EU Political Declaration as a “worthless wishlist“, commenting that “This is just a list of vague aims, with no concrete decisions about what will happen after a transition period. This, again, is an example of the UK Government kicking important issues into the long grass because they can’t admit that the lies told during the Referendum are unachievable – you actually can’t have your cake and eat it.“

The Political Declaration, leaked this morning, was agreed by the Prime Minister’s team and EU negotiators, but still needs the endorsement of the EU leaders.

Mr Zeichner comments: “This agreement does not provide the certainty that UK businesses, organisations and people need. It’s bad for universities, simply committing to ‘explore the participation of the United Kingdom to the European Research Infrastructure Consortiums (ERICs)‘ with no certainty. We cannot aim to keep our world-leading researchers here with just a mere aim to explore participation;  people will not plan their next career moves on vague aspirations, and we risk a real Brexit brain drain.“

“It’s bad for the Life Sciences sector, only aiming to ‘explore the possibility of cooperation of United Kingdom authorities with Union agencies such as the European Medicines Agency (EMA)‘ –with a significant climb down by the Government from the aim to be members of the EMA, to now simply co-operation. The Life Sciences sector have been clear – this is not sufficient.“

“The agreement is weak on future mobility too, just stating that the UK and EU will ‘agree to consider conditions for entry and stay for purposes such as research, study, training and youth exchanges‘. This gives no certainty to the many people, institutions and businesses in Cambridge who rely on pan-European access to skills, research placements and work. “

The Government have had two years of prevaricating, and the country will be disappointed that they haven’t stopped even now. We need proper answers, not this deliberately vague statement that tells us no more about what the future relationship will look like. This shows that the Conservatives are unable to deliver what they promised. The best Brexit deal would be no Brexit at all.“