Another insane week in Westminster is coming to an end, as I continue to use my vote to try to deliver Brexit despite relentless efforts by a few remainer MPs to frustrate the British people’s order to us to leave the EU.
At the end of last week, I held my nose, and agreed to vote for the Prime Minister’s Withdrawal Agreement at the third time of asking. This was put to MPs in the House of Commons last Friday and I voted for it. This was not a formal Meaningful Vote in the legal sense, but an effort to push forwards with the legislative process of getting the Withdrawal Agreement Bill to the floor of the House for scrutiny and improvement. However, the motion was defeated by 58 votes.
On Monday, the House was hijacked again by Oliver Letwin MP, and we held a number of indicative votes in another attempt to get the House to say what it would support. The four options selected, from a dozen, by the Speaker this time only favoured softer Brexit and included seeking a customs union, staying in the single market, a second referendum and even revoking Article 50 and cancelling Brexit altogether. I voted against all of these proposals, as none of them reflects the Brexit I believe the electorate ordered the House of Commons to deliver when it voted to leave the European Union.
On Tuesday, the Prime Minster held an all-day Cabinet. She spoke to the nation and announced that she would be seeking talks with Jeremy Corbyn in an attempt to find a way forwards to get her deal through Parliament. These talks have begun, with Mr Corbyn setting out his demands. I do not expect there to be any real progress since Corbyn wants a permanent customs union and the Prime Minister has always understood that this would be Brexit In Name Only. We would be unable to control our trade policy and be at the mercy of EU decisions which would be anti-competitive and stifle UK innovation.
This new direction being taken by the PM is very concerning. Rather than listen to her own MPs, whether backbenchers or members of her Cabinet, Theresa May has decided that she would rather work with the Leader of the Opposition, a man she has always said wasn’t fit to govern. In doing so, she has alienated those hard working volunteers, councillors and election candidates in her own party, and given Jeremy Corbyn credibility and authority bringing him closer to No 10.
We could have left the EU last Friday, if the Prime Minister had had the courage to go ahead with a no-deal Brexit. Our Civil Service has worked tirelessly and effectively to prepare for this eventuality. The catastrophe narrative from the Treasury & peddled by Remainers just is not true, and it would not be the disaster some would have us believe. Even the Bank of England Governor has now admitted that this is the case. We can still do so next Friday 12 April; as it stands, this is now the legal default position. The prospect of a long extension and having to fight EU elections three years after the British people told us to leave is madness.
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Thank goodness we are still making progress on non-Brexit matters, including problems with local businesses, meetings with and commitments from ministers on more funding for full fibre networks for broadband investment into the constituency, and debate with education ministers on the challenge of stopping restrictive physical interventions with children, celebrating Tourism Week and more challenges to the Treasury on the Loan Charge problems for many constituents.
Brexit will continue to be the focus of our efforts next week, our holidays are cancelled and I and colleagues will continue to try to get progress on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, and stop the Labour Party’s proposals for a permanent customs union without control making headway. This would destroy our future trading choices and freedoms to trade globally as we choose to do.