FIVE years since the Conservatives delivered on the historic ambition of the British people, the opportunities offered by leaving the EU have never felt further away.

Rumours of Labour signing the UK up to new arrangements all add up to the same thing: Britain getting dragged back into the over-regulated, heavy-handed embrace of Brussels.

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It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Labour are more interested in cosying up to the European Union than seizing the benefits of Brexit.

Keir Starmer was front and centre of the campaign against leaving, and repeatedly voted to keep Britain inside the Single Market.

I’m certainly not surprised.

I warned repeatedly during the election campaign last year that Labour would try to reverse Brexit freedoms.

I have a particular interest in defending those freedoms.

As Business Secretary, I ended the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in Britain and scrapped thousands of EU laws.

But this was just the start of what was possible.

On trade, on deregulation, on attracting entrepreneurs, the opportunities to show what an independent Britain can achieve remain enormous.

Five years ago, I declared Brexit the greatest ever vote of confidence in the project of the United Kingdom.

But this government has never felt that same.

So we must all tell Labour: don’t betray Brexit.