Making sure the government keeps its Brexit promises

As the clock ticked over to 11pm on January 31 signalling the UK’s departure from its biggest trading partner, the EU, the Tory cabinet rolled into Sunderland.

Under the Tories, we have seen our council budget slashed by 60% since 2010, 1,100 police officers lost from Northumbria police in the last decade, and only last month reports surfaced in the media of bed shortages at Sunderland Royal, leaving patients to sleep overnight in A&E.

I am not convinced by the Tories’ sudden interest in the city; they have never cared, and never will. Their visit to the city was simply a publicity stunt.

We have now entered a Brexit transition period which extends to the end of the year. By then, we need to have negotiated and agreed a wide ranging trade deal that protects jobs and industry to stop us defaulting to a no-deal scenario.

Considering the Canada-EU trade deal took around seven years to negotiate and complete, the Government has a lot to do in a short space of time.

This needs to be negotiated by the end of July to allow time to be ratified.

So whilst the next few months will be crucial to the government reaching a deal that allows for frictionless trade with the EU - something our automotive industry desperately needs - the sounds coming out of government are far from positive.

The Chancellor’s statement that we will not be aligning with the EU on customs is worrying for our manufacturing sector.

His admission that “there will be an impact on business one way or another, some will benefit, some won’t” certainly feeds the insecurity that business is feeling, and ultimately makes you consider what he is willing to sacrifice in industry to achieve the principle of leaving the EU, in place of a deal that would benefit the country.

I will continue to scrutinise and hold the government to account on their promises; the vibrancy and diversity of the economy of Sunderland and the North East, from its centres of manufacturing to is digital economy and high quality education institutions must be protected, and I will work to make sure the government delivers on its promises that Brexit can be of benefit to this country.

This is the Tories’ Brexit, and it is up to them to make it work.