I must vote with my head and not my heart – it is time to support the Prime Minister’s deal

I never liked the Withdrawal Agreement. There was so much wrong with it – not just the Irish backstop. It is a monster with bells and whistles dreamed up by civil servants on both sides of the Channel. It was designed, it seemed, to antagonise both sides of the Brexit divide in the Tory party.

When I voted Leave in June 2016, I expected Article 50 to be triggered within a month, to be out of the EU by July 2018, and “the best and most far-reaching free trade agreement ever between the EU and a third nation” to be in place – their words, not mine.

Instead, a cautious Prime Minister who voted Remain took advice from civil servants and created a behemoth.

Members of the ERG, including myself, wanted nothing to do with it. Yet despite all I felt encouraged.

Jacob Rees-mogg had said that members of the ERG need to keep calm, and vote against the Withdrawal Agreement, and the default legal position would be that we would drop out of the EU without a deal.

I was not so sure. But despite my misgivings, when the agreement came before Parliament, I voted with my heart and opposed it. Twice.

Then Sir Oliver Letwin tabled a motion to seize control of the agenda for a day for indicative votes.

The Prime Minister sought to calm MPS by saying these votes would not be binding, but any hopes were dashed by Nick Boles, who said that if they were ignored, they would seize control.

Jacob Rees-mogg, courageously admitted he had been wrong about advising the ERG to stand firm. He told members, some approving, some outraged, that reluctantly he would have to vote for the Agreement.

For my part, I have told the ERG that I must now reluctantly vote with my head and no longer with my heart. If the Withdrawal Agreement is not passed, our Remainer Parliament will seize control and destroy Brexit.

And there is no Oliver Cromwell to save us this time.