What happened in January
Big votes on Brexit.
As part of the EU Withdrawal Act the House of Commons voted on the draft Withdrawal Agreement on the 15th of January. As someone who campaigned and voted to Leave the European Union, and having witnessed repeated attempts by MPs in the House of Commons to thwart Brexit, I took the view that backing the Prime Minister’s withdrawal agreement was the most likely way of delivering on the referendum result.
The House of Commons voted against the draft Withdrawal Agreement which means that the PM has to bring forward an alternative plan. The Commons held a series of votes on the 29th January which tested the support for a number of possible options, these included attempts to delay our exit date (I voted against and the proposals were defeated), that the UK should not leave the EU without a deal (I voted against but the majority voted to support the non-binding recommendation), and that the Withdrawal Agreement would be agreed to if the Backstop was amended (I voted in favour and the proposal was successful).
The PM is now negotiating with the EU to try and secure changes to the Backstop, any changes that she is able to secure will be made public and voted upon on the 14th February.
The House of Commons Library has produced a useful guide to help understand these unprecedented set of events. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/…/a-meaningful-vote-c…/
Not just Brexit
There is more to politics than Brexit and I have continued to push for improvements to the rail service from Braintree. At the start of the month I wrote to the rail minister to make sure the commitments made by Greater Anglia in their franchise agreement are adhered to. (Copy of the letter here: https://www.facebook.com/283560961748679/posts/1712160192222075/ )
I also took part in a debate about GA’s performance and the roll-out of a better compensation scheme when delays do happen. ( https://www.cleverly4braintree.com/…/james-cleverly-calls-r… )
Employment GrowthThe latest employment figures show that the UK has 32.53 million people in work, the highest figure ever. I am pleased that our part of Essex is contributing to those great figures when I visited Oadby Plastics Ltd who are expanding and will be employing dozens of people locally. https://www.facebook.com/283560961748679/posts/1724763364295091/
Other issues
Fly tipping has been raised with me in a number of meetings and I’ve communicated these concerns to Government. I’m pleased about these new fines for fly-tipping. https://www.facebook.com/283560961748679/posts/1710265479078213/
I met students from St Andrew’s Primary School on their visit to parliament. https://www.halsteadgazette.co.uk/…/17380154.braintree-mp-…/
I wrote to ministers before Christmas about homelessness support and I’ve received their reply. https://www.facebook.com/283560961748679/posts/1742744419163652/
Advice Surgeries
I hold regular advice surgeries around the constituency, if you need help with an issue and would like to meet to discuss it please get in contact via email so we can make arrangements.
