Brexit is an issue which people continue to have very strong views on and it is, unfortunately, an issue which continues to divide the country. The petition calling for Parliament to revoke Article 50 has been signed by nearly 6 million people across the country including more than 6,500 in my Mid Worcestershire constituency. The petition’s popularity – and the scale of the demonstration in London last weekend - shows how many people continue to be angry about the referendum result and/ or are frustrated with how the Brexit process is going.
Though I have sympathy for these frustrations and am personally disappointed with the outcome of some of the recent votes that have taken place in Parliament, I do not support revoking Article 50.
A majority of voters in my constituency chose to leave the European Union (44,000 people in the Wychavon District voted to leave versus 32,000 who voted to remain) and during the referendum campaign I personally pledged to respect the result. Revoking Article 50 would undermine this commitment and betray what a majority of my constituents and voters across the country voted for. Revoking Article 50 would also have profound implications for our democracy and be incredibly divisive for the UK – whether or not it led to a second referendum. To revoke Article 50 when the majority of people expressed a wish for us to leave the European Union would, I believe, undermine faith in our democratic process.
Many of the emails I have received from constituents calling on me to revoke Article 50 claim that those who supported Leave have changed their minds or did not know what they were voting for. I do not believe this is the case. In addition to the hundreds of emails I have received calling on me to revoke Article 50, I continue to receive many, many emails from Mid Worcestershire residents who want to leave the European Union and are frustrated that their decision appears to be being undermined. Some of these want to leave with a deal; but many are happy to leave without a deal.
I remain hopeful that Parliament will pass a deal but there are a number of other possible outcomes and indicative votes may be held in the coming weeks to determine our course of action.
Given the diverse and opposite views held by my constituents it is not possible for me to satisfy them all and I accept that no matter what decisions I make on Brexit, some of my constituents will be disappointed. I have voted twice for the Prime Minister’s Withdrawal Agreement and if it comes up again, I will vote for it again. Alternatively I will work with colleagues to seek an alternative deal that delivers on the referendum decision to leave the EU. But I am not attracted by the division and uncertainty that revoking Article 50 or having a second referendum would bring; and I continue to be unconvinced of the benefits of a no deal outcome when there is a perfectly reasonable deal already on the table. But I will continue to reflect on the correspondence I receive from constituents when I make my decisions on how to vote in Parliament and can assure you I take every opinion and view seriously.
