This week the prime minister set out new, firm plans to break the deadlock on Brexit in an impassioned speech.
This new proposed deal means we can leave on October 31 without disruption and in a friendly way. Recognising that all options have previously been defeated in Parliament, it is welcome that the initial reaction in Parliament has been positive – including many MPs who have previously voted against a deal and even a handful of Labour MPs who now acknowledge it is simply wrong for Labour to oppose for the sake of opposing.
This is vital as any deal must get at least 50 per cent of MPs supporting it.
The key changes to this new deal make sure we are fully in control of our laws and our borders, and crucially there is a special arrangement for Northern Ireland that protects the Irish peace process and ensures democratic consent for the arrangement – all issues of concern that helped various previous deals fail to secure a majority.
We hope Brussels will work with us on the details over the next 10 days. We have compromised to seek a Parliamentary majority and now hopefully the EU will respond positively. If they do, we will leave with a new deal.
It is simple, we need a new deal or no deal, but no more delays – we must get Brexit done so the country can move on and focus on the cost of living, the NHS and other domestic priorities that will get Britain back on the road to a brighter future.
Aside from Brexit there were some other positive announcements, including launching the largest hospital building programme in a generation, ensuring our hospitals are fit for purpose for both staff and patients on the front line, cracking down on criminals by empowering our police and strengthening sentencing, committing to increase the National Living Wage to two thirds of the median by 2024, ending low pay, and announcing £5 billion for gigabit broadband in the hardest to reach areas, so no community is left behind.
The prime minister also committed himself to continuing the previous government’s work to improve animal welfare, by consulting on banning keeping primates as pets, hunting trophies and live exports, as well as microchipping for cats.
To tackle the important issue of climate change, the prime minister announced his plans for the environment, which includes building a fusion power plant, planting a new Great Northumberland Forest of up to a million trees, expanding pocket parks, opening a Gigafactory to develop batteries for electric vehicles, and ensuring new homes are energy efficient.
Back in Swindon I visited Kingsdown School and met with headteacher Emma Leigh-Bennett to catch up on her first two years in charge.
I was very pleased to hear about the significant improvements that have been made – which saw students who received their GCSEs this year perform, on average, half a grade better than the previous year’s students across their best eight subjects.
While at the school I spoke to several students – including the head boy, head girl and deputy head girl - and I was very impressed with how engaged and enthusiastic they were, fantastic advocates for the school.
It is great to hear about the improvements at Kingsdown, a key school within our community.
