The events immediately following the result of the EU referendum were momentous and will shape the future of our country for years to come. Against all the odds and certainly against expectations of the government and the markets the British people decided that, after 43 years as a member of the EU, it was no longer for us. I hear that message and respect and agree with that decision, and the Government must too. In my constituency, the margin of the vote to Leave was higher than the national figure at around 55%-45%. With a turnout of 72% of the British public, which was the highest in a UK-wide election since 1992, 17,410,742 people voting Leave – the biggest vote in British history for anything – and with all the regions of the UK voting to ‘Leave’ outside London, Scotland and Northern Ireland, it was a solid endorsement. Regardless of your position on the Leave/Remain question, this was certainly a victory for democracy and I hope that this level of engagement on important political issues can be maintained in the future.
Having campaigned for the ‘Leave’ side and made my views clear in a series of articles, podcasts and public meetings around the constituency, I obviously welcomed the result though I was not confident of which way the vote would go, as it was too close to call. I also appreciate that almost half of those voting wanted a different result and there is work to be done to bring the country together again as we face the new challenges of the UK’s role outside the EU. There will be concerns amongst many about how the future pans out for our country and undoubtedly there will be a period of uncertainty. Nobody ever said that a vote to ‘Leave’ would be easy but it is incumbent on the Government now to set out their commitment to an orderly withdrawal from the EU and to dispel that uncertainty as promptly as possible.
I have heard complaints from some that the ‘Leave’ side have not set out their plans and started invoking the withdrawal process. However, it must be remembered, the ‘Leave’ campaigners were not a government in waiting. They were simply a group of campaigners from all parties, including a minority of ministers, who came together to articulate the cause for leaving the EU. The referendum we have just held was not a ‘consultation’ with the people, it was an ‘instruction’ from the people. It is now up to the Government and the new Prime Minister to carry out that instruction in the best interests of all the people of the UK.
As I said several times during this campaign, the level of debate on both sides could have been much better and not surprisingly there are recriminations now about who said what about what to whom. However I also made clear, whatever the result, how imperative it was that each side accepted the democratic choice of the people and made the most of it and moved on. Democracy is democracy and it cannot be rejected selectively just because some people do not like the answer and now selectively challenge some of the arguments put forward. I therefore take strong exception to those people who are now claiming that the referendum was in some way not fair and that it should be re-run or its decision simply ignored by Parliament.
That is a gross insult to the many millions of people who came out to vote to ‘Leave’ and did so with a strong and genuine belief. In some cases people turned out to vote who had not voted in a national election for many years, if at all. If would be a betrayal of their belief in democracy if we effectively tell them that their vote and their view counted less than other people’s and can be ignored. I am afraid that is just the sort of attitude which has characterised the views of many of the EU as a remote institution deaf to the concerns of ordinary people. In the case of previous votes by Denmark and Ireland the EU refused to accept the result of referendums and effectively demanded the people vote again until they came up with the ‘right’ answer. The Prime Minister has made clear that will not be happening in the UK, in her own words: “Brexit means Brexit.”
Some have also queried whether the decision on Europe should be decided by a referendum rather than left up to MPs. Strangely only one constituent made this case to me before the result. It is worth considering that when we voted to stay in the then EEC in 1975 it was as a result of a referendum. Forty-one years on it is absolutely right that again such an important constitutional matter should be decided by the people, as it has more recently on arguably lesser matters such as independence for Scotland and the nature of the voting system. I have long favoured a referendum to decide our future in or out of Europe and I praise the David Cameron for bravely giving that power to the British people in a referendum, where my vote and his vote counted no more or less than any of our constituents; admittedly, he may be regretting his decision now but it was the right thing to do. The UK has had an uneasy relationship with the EU for many years. Either way, it was absolutely imperative to resolve the issue and settle the uncertainty once and for all so we could move on one way or another. That has now been done and there is no turning back.
I regret that David Cameron decided to step down but I fully respect his reasoning for doing so. I was very involved with the subsequent leadership contest to succeed him and became the campaign manager for my long standing friend, Andrea Leadsom, who decided to stand at the last minute. With little time to prepare a campaign, we managed to secure the votes of 84 Conservative MPs for Andrea, who then went through to the final ballot to elect the person to become our next Prime Minister against Theresa May. After a sustained campaign of often quite vitriolic attacks against her, Andrea decided that an extended period of this would prove very unsettling for our Party and the country as a whole, particularly at a time when we needed to plug the uncertainty caused by the Referendum vote. Consequently, she decided to step aside and accelerate the process by which Theresa May has now become our new Prime Minister.
The smooth transfer of power from David Cameron to Theresa May was ruthlessly swift, but has ensured we now have certainty and stability of leadership going forward into Brexit negotiations. With this in mind, the Prime Minister has said that holding a general election would cause unnecessary uncertainty at this time. This is a decision I agree with, as it is not without precedent, indeed it is very similar to when John Major took over from Margaret Thatcher in 1990 and Gordon Brown from Tony Blair in 2008. In addition we now have the ‘Fixed Terms Parliament’ Act which dictates that the next election will not take place until May 2020 unless it is overturned with a majority of over two thirds of the Commons.
The Prime Minister has carried out a comprehensive Cabinet ‘re-shuffle’, including establishing two new government appointments to focus Britain’s exit from the EU, i.e. Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (David Davis) and Secretary of State for International Trade, (Liam Fox), and appointing Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary. These new appointments show that the Prime Minister is serious about delivering Brexit and is a promising start, particularly the focus on establishing new free trade deals. It is very encouraging to hear that the Prime Minters of Australia and New Zealand, as well as officials in China, India, Canada and even the United States, want to open up new trade deals with the UK, as will many other countries, something that we could not do bilaterally whilst members of the EU. I believe that many other new opportunities will rapidly emerge that will benefit British businesses and British people.
I am aware that many questions have been raised about exactly what will happen and in most cases they cannot be answered until the negotiations are underway. I will continue to post information on my website and as always will continue dialogue with constituents. However it is important to acknowledge that nothing will change for some time. People will still be able to travel freely around the EU, we will still be paying into the EU budget and will still be covered by all EU rules and regulations until our withdrawal is complete probably not until 2019. After that it will be up to us to decide which of those policies we retain or reject depending on the negotiation process. I fully appreciate that this process will not be easy and there will be a bumpy road ahead, but as I set out throughout the Referendum campaign I genuinely believe that the future for the UK outside of the EU is a much brighter one. It will not be long before we will be asking ourselves, ‘why on earth did we not do it sooner?’ As always if you have any specific questions I am always happy to help and you know how to get hold of me.