With all that has been said in the media about Brexit since the referendum and with the High Court ruling in London and the pending appeal at the Supreme Court, I thought it would be useful to give an update on the issue.
I am of course a strong believer in democracy and the Referendum on the 23rd June had a decisive outcome: the British people have voted to leave the European Union.
The vote was clear- more people voted in the Referendum than voted in the General Election. The winning margin was around 1.3 million people. In the Borough of Northampton 58% voted to Leave. In my view the decision is clear and it is my duty and that of the government to get on with it and make the best possible deal out of it for Britain.
As representatives of the people, I and the Government will follow this instruction and negotiate an exit from the EU.
However, when Prime Minister Theresa May intended to use her powers to trigger Article 50 to begin the process, private individuals wishing to block this brought a Court case in which the High Court in London ruled that Parliament must vote on triggering Article 50, rather than the Prime Minister exercising that power herself. The Liberal Democrats, Scottish Nationalists and others who wish to block our exit from the EU have supported this decision.
The Government is now about to appeal this decision in the Supreme Court as the Government feels that a vote in the Commons is unnecessary because the referendum result was clear and because MPs already gave their approval for the matter to be decided by the people through the Referendum Act 2015.
If there was to be a vote in the House of Commons I would certainly vote to trigger Article 50 to Leave the EU.
Of course, not everybody in this country voted to leave the EU, and the Government must govern on the behalf of everyone. This is why the Government will aim to negotiate the best possible deal for everyone when we exit the EU.
Much has been said about the effects of leaving the EU, but since the referendum there are many indicators that show that as a country we will continue to flourish: the IMF predict the UK will be the fastest growing economy in the G7 this year, many countries are continuing investment in this country such as the Japanese firm Softbank buying ARM Holdings, and also there is no sign of companies leaving the UK, with Nissan committing to keeping production in this country.