COLUMN: “The will of the British people should be upheld,” says Andrea Jenkyns MP

Unfortunately, the Prime Minister has botched the negotiations from the beginning, by not playing our strongest cards, and by refusing to properly prepare for a no-deal situation she has forged a bad deal for Britain.

The Withdrawal Agreement, if passed, would significantly prevent the UK from seizing the opportunities that Brexit can provide, and lock us into a ‘backstop’ that would see the UK in a legal ‘ditch’.

This would be a horrifically disadvantageous position from which we would be totally unable to negotiate the next steps of the Brexit process, as the only way to leave it would be for the EU to agree to our release. I have no doubt that this would come at a significant cost with totally unacceptable demands.

The deal on the table is a bad one, and I will not vote to trap Britain into that humiliating position. 66% of Wakefield, and 60% of my constituency voted to leave the EU. If a good deal cannot be forged, then we should leave with no deal.

No deal should not be feared, indeed many polls are showing the British public outside of the Westminster political and media bubble are embracing the idea of the UK being immediately free to chart our own course.

Recent economic figures, showing employment at record highs (32.71 million people), wages growing faster than inflation for a year, and borrowing at a 17 year low, show that our economy is going from strength to strength. Despite the gloom of forecasters and the media, we are ready for any eventuality.

Politicians must respect the will of the people. I am fed up of opposition parties who are intent on undoing the referendum result.

By Labour refusing to completely rule out a second referendum they are making a mockery of the democratic process.

How many referendums are we going to have before certain politicians realise that the British people spoke loud and clear in June 2016.

I implore the Prime Minister to lead the UK out of the EU with strength and courage, the British people will respect that and will thank her for it.

It is important to remember that it is the EU who should be most concerned about a no-deal outcome.

We buy more from the EU than we sell to them, meaning any trade disruption would impact the economy of member states more than ours, and the EU would also lose a major chunk of its budget without the British taxpayers sending large sums of money across the Channel.

I believe, therefore, that in a no-deal situation it would not be long before the EU started to negotiate fairly and we entered into a free trade agreement with our friends across the continent. Brexit will now be delayed until at least April 12.

I believe that democracy delayed is democracy denied. Any delay is wrong, but any further delay past April 12 should be rejected and democracy should prevail.

The will of the British people should be upheld and we should leave the EU.