Brexit majority in Commons was historic
LAST week the House of Commons passed an historic vote, by an overwhelming majority of 372 with 461 votes to 89 to call on the government to invoke Article 50 by the end of March, and so begin our Brexit negotiations.
I was a firm believer that the UK should leave the EU, and during the referendum this summer I was proud to campaign for that cause, alongside many residents from across Hazel Grove and Stockport. I was of course also pleased that at the end of the campaign that not only a majority of the country agreed, but by a similar margin of 52 per cent to 48 pc residents of Hazel Grove constituency also voted to Leave.
I was therefore proud to be part of a united Conservative party voting to trigger article 50 in the next four months. The people have spoken, and now Parliament has spoken to uphold their wish.
I was also saddened to see the Labour party split, and the Lib Dems voting directly against what the people have asked of them.
However, while Parliament’s decision to back Brexit will no doubt please the majority who voted leave, I also want to address the very sizable minority who would have preferred to remain. It is not right to attack nearly half the British people as somehow unpatriotic or anti-British as some have, but it is right to try and reassure them that the future is not as dark as they might fear.
There may be some who regard our leaving the EU as the fall of civilisation. However for me, it is a moment of national liberation rather than of national catastrophe. Outside of the EU, Britain will be free to govern itself again, our business will be freer to trade more globally, not merely with the near continent, and we will be able to strengthen and forge new trade and diplomatic relations with neighbours across the world, while maintaining the close and important ties with our friends in Europe.