Thank you for contacting me about proroguing Parliament.

I would be happy to stay in Parliament every day until October 31st to vote for the deal the Prime Minister seeks, or the one the previous PM agreed. Parliament will return on October 14th and MPs will have time to support a Withdrawal Agreement. A new session of Parliament would allow the Government to table the unamended Withdrawal Agreement as a last resort.

I agree that proroguing is undesirable at this time although this prorogation coincides with the conference recess and only a few sitting days will be lost. My preference, along with 90 per cent of my party colleagues, has been to back the Withdrawal Agreement offering certainty to local people and local businesses. Because of Speaker Bercow’s ruling the current Withdrawal Agreement can’t be brought back without changes in this session, and as yet changes requested by the Government have not been forthcoming from the EU. If the EU continues with its intransigence, MPs who want to avoid No Deal can support the deal when Parliament returns in October.