Wednesday 4 September 2019

Newspaper column 4 September 2019 - Prorogation of Parliament


Last week was another varied one locally as I continued my busy Summer Recess schedule. I took part in a litter pick on Tuesday after a student from Carclaze School brought a local grot spot to my attention. On Wednesday I spent the day on Ennis Farm near Fraddon seeing first hand what life is like on a busy dairy farm – a really great experience. I visited Treliske Hospital to see some of their new medical equipment, met with local care providers and had another busy MP constituency advice surgery in St Austell. I also paid a visit to the new Primary School at Nansledan in Newquay and attended the turf cutting ceremony for the new community hub at Newquay Orchard.

Summer Recess has been a busy time and I have also enjoyed being able to spend time out and about around Cornwall catching up with friends and family. This week Parliament returns and with our Brexit date of 31 October getting closer things are getting very interesting.

Last week our Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that Parliament would be prorogued ahead of a Queen’s Speech in October.

This predictably led to cries of outrage from those people who are against the government, with all sorts of sensationalistic language being thrown about regarding the so-called suspension of democracy.

This is all nonsense of course. Normally there is a Queen’s Speech every year in order for the Government to outline its legislative programme for the coming months. When a new Government is formed, as Boris Johnson has done since he became Prime Minister, a Queen’s Speech is necessary in order to outline its legislative programme. Boris was elected just before the Summer Recess and now is his first opportunity to do this. The current Parliamentary session, which has lasted since 2017 is also the longest in hundreds of years and it is only right and proper that it end and a new session start with the new Government.

Not only this but the Parliamentary Calendar breaks for Conference Recess, the time when all political parties hold their annual conferences, every year from mid-September. Last year for example Parliament did not sit between the 14 September and the 8 October. But nobody batted an eyelid then.
What Parliament could do in the four days they are now not sitting this year, I am unsure. They have already been debating Brexit for the past three years and we are no further forward. If there is a constitutional outrage, it is by those who are seeking to usurp the government and force through legislation to delay Brexit in less than a week, which goes against long-established Parliamentary procedures that have served our country well for hundreds of years.

It is important to see the real motives of the people currently attacking the Government for what they are. They want to stop Brexit, nothing less. They say they want to avoid a no-deal Brexit, but have consistently voted against a deal when we have voted on one earlier this year. These people, mostly Labour MPs who stood on a platform of delivering Brexit and now have changed their minds, and Liberal Democrats, who have never respected the outcome of the 2016 Referendum, are the real enemies of democracy. They are doing all they can to go against the will of 17.4 million people who voted to leave, and the vast majority of those who voted remain who respect the outcome of the referendum and just want us to get on with it.

As your MP I remain committed to respecting the result of the Referendum, and the will of the people as voted on nationally and particularly in Cornwall and our constituency, before moving on to deliver the many exciting policy announcements Boris’s new government have made over the summer.