There are times in politics when you are faced with what
seem impossible choices. When all the options available seem wrong but
nevertheless you have to make a decision.
This was the situation those of us
committed to respecting the EU referendum and ensuring we leave the EU as
planned faced in Parliament last week.
The Prime Minister brought the EU Withdrawal Agreement back
to Parliament last Tuesday. This was the first of what was likely to be three
days of votes when if the ‘deal’ was voted down again Parliament would be given
the option to refuse to leave without a deal and then to ask the EU for an
extension to the Article 50 process and delay the date when we will leave.
It was clear to me that given the opportunity, a majority
of MPs would vote to refuse leaving without a deal and would support delaying
our date of departure.
For me neither of these are acceptable and would both
undermine our ability to obtain further concessions from the EU to the
Withdrawal Agreement and play into the hands of those who are looking for an
opportunity to overturn the referendum result completely.
So, the choice before us was a flawed deal that risks us
being stuck in a backstop or the risk of Parliament taking steps towards
preventing Brexit completely by taking no deal off the table and delaying the
leave date.
This was without doubt the hardest decision I have had to
make in the fours years of being an MP.
I want us to leave the EU.
Not just because it is my personal view that it is the
right way forward for our country but more importantly because it was the
decision our country made in a democratic vote – our constituency voting by
almost 2-1 in favour of leaving.
Last week’s decision was one we should never have been
having to make – particularly so close to the date we are scheduled to be
leaving. It is a failure of our politics that we are in this position and a
direct result of those in Parliament who have consistently worked to undermine
the process in the hope of preventing Brexit from ever happening.
I have been astounded by the way many MPs from all
political parties have stated publicly that they ‘respect the result of the
referendum’ and then done everything they can to delay, dilute or prevent it
from happening.
In the end, with a very heavy heart, I voted for the
Withdrawal Agreement. However, for me it was not an endorsement of the deal but
a vote against the likely alternatives. As is now well known the vote was lost
once again this time by 149 votes.
As the rest of the week unfolded my worst fears were
confirmed. Parliament then voted to reject
ever leaving without a deal and to extend Article 50 – possibly by a few
months if a deal is agreed or for a longer period (possibly for up to 2 years)
if we cannot agree a deal. I voted to keep ‘no deal’ on the table and against
any delay to our leave date – alas I was
in a minority.
One bright point was that when Parliament was asked to
support a 2nd Referendum it rejected this by 334 votes to 85. The
Labour Party abstained on this vote which again shows their confused position
on Brexit. It is worth noting that the 334 MPs who voted against a 2nd
Referendum represents a clear majority of the whole house, so even if Labour
had voted against the vote would still have been lost.
And then on Monday we saw the Speaker intervening to
prevent the government from bringing back the vote on the Withdrawal Agreement
unless it is materially different. Whilst the full implication of this is not
clear at this stage I think we can take it that he was not seeking to be
helpful to those of us committed to Brexit.
We now wait to see what the Prime Minister will do now but
I suspect she will go to the EU Council later this week and seek both changes
to the agreement to enable another vote in Parliament and also seek terms for
both a short and extended delay to our leaving.
There are those who want to hold out in the hope we will
leave without a deal by default. However, this would be a high stakes poker
game. If I thought, there was a genuine chance that this could happen I would
support that. But having now voted twice against a no deal Brexit it seems
clear to me that there are more than enough MPs who will prevent this for
happening and the Speaker will find a way to enable them to do so.
The only outcomes now open to us appear to be the
Withdrawal Agreement or a long delay and the likelihood of giving those who
want to stop Brexit the opportunity to prevent it or dilute the way we leave
even further.
Ironically one hope we have is that the EU reject our
request for an extension. I will wait and see what happens this week before
deciding how I will vote and what the choices are – but as things stand it
seems that the least worse option before us would be to support the deal. Regrettably
it seems the choice is either vote for the deal or risk not having Brexit at
all.
I fully appreciate that many will be disappointed with this
– as am I. We should not be in this position.
The events of the last few weeks, including the Speaker’s
actions this week, will confirm what many have feared – that we are in the
midst of an establishment stitch up to prevent us from ever leaving the EU. The
more time goes by the more this appears to be true. However, my commitment
remains the same – I will work to deliver on the referendum result and do all I
can to ensure that one way or another we leave the EU as the country voted.
