Brexit Blog January 16th update.

I wanted to take the time to write to update constituents about the state of play regarding Brexit. Last week in Parliament (9^th January), I was proud to use my vote to support the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal.

The Withdrawal Agreement Bill, the formal mechanism by which we will leave the European Union, passed its third reading by 330 votes to 231 votes. This means that the Government is on track to get Brexit done by January 31^st.

Following the Withdrawal Agreement’s passage through the House of Commons, the Bill will now go off to be debated and scrutinised further in the House of Lords.

I did want to take this opportunity raise two points which some constituents have gotten in touch with me about.

The first being clause 37 of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill and the status of unaccompanied child refugees. I want to be clear that the UK has a proud record of helping unaccompanied children. Indeed, the UK takes 15% of the entire total of unaccompanied children. The Government has made commitments, and the Home Secretary wrote to the EU Commission in October on this issue.

That said, the EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill is not the most suitable place to legislate for these commitments. The Government is commitmed to supporting refugees; it is actually embedded in our manifesto, on page 23. I can assure you, both I and the Government remain committed to that pledge.

It is absolutely right that MPs should have the opportunity to fully debate these issues and that time will come in due course, when an immigration Bill comes before the House.

The second issue relates to the chiming of Big Ben on our exit from the EU on January 31^st. While restorative works are ongoing, Big Ben only chimes at moments of national celebration including on Remembrance Sunday and on New Year’s Eve.

The decision to make Big Ben chime is a decision that is made by the House of Commons authorities, so not by MPs or the Government. It’s worth adding that it’s quite an expensive ask at a cost of half a million pounds to ring the bell.

We are on track to get Brexit done by January 31^st. As your MP, I will continue to work in Parliament to help unite our country and focus on all those other important domestic issues which rightly need our attention.