A number of constituents have written with an email entitled “British people voted to leave “WITHOUT a deal.”
I have delayed coming to a decision with regards to the
Brexit deal until I had time to read it. I wanted to make up my own mind and
not just form on an opinion based on the spin being put out by others.
Additionally I wanted to take soundings from local people to ensure I was also
reflecting their views.
The full draft agreement was only released to MPs late on
Wednesday evening. It is a 585 page document that would take some time to even
scan through let alone read fully. I was therefore somewhat surprised at those
who were express strong views, on both sides of the debate, within minutes of
its publication.
I had a full diary on Thursday and was only able to give
time to consider the agreement properly on the train journey home on Thursday
evening. Even then I must admit I was not able to read every word. But having
scanned the document and read what I consider the key parts I did form a view
that this was not something I could support.
Having also now had time to consider all of the feedback
from local people, online, from the hundreds of emails I have received and also
talking to my key staff and local party members it is clear that the vast
majority of people agree with my view.
I issued a statement on Friday and
posted it here –
confirming I will not be voting for this deal. My reasoning is as follows:
It does not fully deliver on the promises made in
our manifesto. That is reason enough. Further, it locks us into a customs
union we cannot leave without EU permission – I can never support that as it
makes us a hostage to fortune and judging by the way the EU has behaved thus
far it makes the notion untenable.
It risks the integrity of the United Kingdom –
both politically and geographically.
We risk becoming a satellite state of the EU where we
become rule takers yet have no influence over rule making.
It makes the proposals as they stand something I cannot
vote for.
I trust you will understand and respect that I have taken
an appropriate amount of time to consider what is after all a very important
decision before coming to a firm view.
