‘I don’t talk Brexit over the dinner table. God, no’

MP Anna Soubry – who left the Conservative Party in February to join the Independent Group (now called Change UK) – says it’s time to take the issue back to the people

The thing that’s concerning me is how wrong it would be for us to leave the EU without going back to the people first. I believe with a passion that we should have a People’s Vote. I know some feel it would be a betrayal to the referendum result, but others – including MPS – have admitted they didn’t realise how difficult the referendum would be to deliver or how damaging leaving the EU would be to our economy.

People were fed lies during the referendum campaign; people were led to believe leaving the EU was as simple as leaving any old club. Now some of those people are starting to wake up to the fact it’s not simple at all. The Government has put aside £4 billion in case of a no-deal Brexit.

I left the Conservatives because I couldn’t stand its disastrous handling of Brexit.

Now I’m Change UK’S spokesperson on Brexit, in the Commons banging the drum for a People’s Vote. Other MPS say the atmosphere in Westminster is horrific at the moment, but I haven’t noticed it. It may be because I’ve escaped the two main parties and I’m in a place where I want to be, and where we all agree with each other.

Theresa May could have delivered Brexit in the least harmful way

years ago – she had the opportunity to do it around the time of her Lancaster House speech – without leaving the single market and harming our economy. Then she had another chance to do it after the snap election in June 2017, when she lost her majority. But she refused because she’s stubborn and only cares about bending over backwards to keep the right of her party (the European Research Group) happy.

On Saturday mornings, I campaign in Nottingham with the People’s Vote.

We can feel the support for us growing. People come and chat to us; some agree, some don’t, but we always listen. People have said we need to stop so many people coming in from Africa and Asia – but that’s got nothing to do with the EU. They say they want to ‘take back control’ of immigration, but the numbers won’t change if we leave.

I don’t eat, sleep and breathe politics.

My partner, two daughters (aged 27 and 28) and I don’t talk Brexit over the dinner table. God, no. On Saturday afternoons I watch Notts County play – I’m a season-ticket holder. It’s sad though because they’re bottom of the bottom-most league. Tragic, really – but it takes your mind off bloody Brexit.

‘I believe that we should have a People’s Vote’