On 8th February I joined with 493 parliamentary colleagues in the House of Commons voting to approve the third reading of the Government’s European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill.
Put simply, with the clear support of the elected chamber – as well as the people of our country – the legislation passes to the Lords.
I have been contacted by Crawley residents with a whole range of views on our EU exit. Among these include a number of remain voters, some who backed that cause reluctantly, some with enthusiasm.
What is striking to me is the clear difference between remain voters who accept the result and wanting the UK to secure the best deal, and those we see on the news who believe they are entitled to thwart the democratic process because they happen to not like the result.
Our EU exit must be conducted with all in our country in mind. One issue in particular that has been raised is the important subject of the rights of EU nationals. Theresa May has repeatedly stated that Government policy is to guarantee the rights of EU citizens already in the UK. However, our European partners are not currently guaranteeing the same rights for British citizens in the rest of the bloc.
For clarity, I include the Prime Minister’s comments on this topic:
“We want to guarantee the rights of EU citizens who are already living in Britain, and the rights of British nationals in other member states, as early as we can.
“I have told other EU leaders that we could give people the certainty they want straight away, and reach such a deal now.
“Many of them favour such an agreement - one or two others do not - but I want everyone to know that it remains an important priority for Britain – and for many other member states – to resolve this challenge as soon as possible. Because it is the right and fair thing to do.”
The legislation to take us out of the EU, as Parliament was instructed to do by the largest ever vote of the British people last June, has completed its process through the House of Commons and now makes its way to the Lords.
Parliament must continue to listen to the expressed will of the British people.
Henry Smith MP
Crawley Constituency
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
01293 934554/020 7219 7043
henry.smith.mp@parliament.uk
www.henrysmith.info