At last... a golden opportunity to get Brexit done and take the UK forward
IN JUST 87 days, the Prime Minister has made Mission Impossible entirely possible. A great new deal has been secured allowing Britain to finally take back control of our laws, trade, borders and money.
After three years of dither and delay, the end is very much in sight and now is a chance for us to get Brexit done on October 31 in an orderly and friendly way with the new deal.
Then we can finally focus on our priorities – putting 20,000 police on the streets, lifting up funding of education across the country and putting in place the biggest expansion of the national living wage.
Today in parliament, MPs you elect face a clear choice: either we back the Prime Minister’s deal and leave the European Union with a deal that will benefit Yorkshire and the whole country or we will leave without a deal avoiding any further pointless delay.
This new deal delivers for all parts of the United Kingdom. It means we can leave the Customs Union and strike ambitious trade deals.
British voters will be able to decide on the level and type of immigration we want to see, with a fairer Australian-style points system that prioritises people’s skills.
And we will finally be able to change our taxes and laws in a huge number of areas where we are currently bound by EU rules.
With the Prime Minister’s deal, it will no longer be for foreign powers to decide the future of any part of our country.
It will be our courts, applying our laws, which will be the highest authority in the land – and rightly so.
Today’s vote is our chance to stand amicably aside from our friends in Europe and to be a truly open, outward-looking, global Britain which works with our partners on common interests, not through common government.
As MPs, this is our golden opportunity to come together, work together and get Brexit done so we can together take the United Kingdom forward.
As guarantors of democracy, my message to MPs in Yorkshire and elsewhere is that it’s time to put party politics to one side and respect the result of the referendum.
Those who are attempting to extend Article 50 won’t solve anything and nor will another divisive second referendum.
The British people had their say three years ago and we must now work together to crush that growing, toxic belief that voting changes nothing.
As MPs it is our responsibility to come together and finally deliver on the vote that people cast more than three years ago.
Let’s vote for this deal so the country can move on and we can focus on the people’s priorities that make a difference to the quality of life for everyone across the UK.
Let’s get Brexit done so we can turbo-charge devolution across Yorkshire, complete Northern Powerhouse Rail and level up our regions with more money to close the North-South divide once and for all.
This new deal Boris Johnson has achieved – against all the odds – will bring an end to uncertainty and division, doubt and indecision.