I will be voting with my Green Party colleagues against the Trade Agreement this government has negotiated with the EU. I resent the loss of democracy in the way that Parliament is being expected to rubber stamp a deal with minimum scrutiny and no ability to amend, nor even seriously question Ministers. This is not the UK Parliament taking back control, it is a power grab by the executive and we must renegotiate the terms of the agreement, once a general election has given the public their say. I reject the minimal guarantees on standards for the environment and the loss of freedom of movement. Our young people will miss the advantages of travel and study with the Erasmus scheme. And we have all gained an additional set of expenses for health insurance and other costs every time we take a trip across the English Channel.

I voted for Brexit, but I cannot vote for this disastrous deal that leaves British people far worse off. Instead of creating 50,000 jobs to deal with the growing crisis of the climate emergency, this government has created 50,000 custom agents to check over the estimated 211 million extra forms that exporters will need. Above all, I am not prepared to vote for lower environmental standards and less rigorous enforcement of them. This government have the numbers to pass their deal, but this is nowhere near the best deal and I won’t legitimise what our Government has negotiated by voting for it.