Last week, we Got Brexit Done. For me this was the delivery of a key pledge in December’s election. Some two-thirds of people here in Dover & Deal voted to leave. Honouring that instruction was important to give people confidence in our democracy and institutions.
We should have left long ago. It’s incredible to think that it’s now three and a half years since the EU referendum. I’m now looking forward to our reclaiming our place as in independent nation in the world, trading more with countries like Australia, America and Japan.
This is a moment for us to look forward with ambition to the Britain we can build in the decades to come. A nation where we not only respect the democratic decisions of the British people – but work together to make ours a land of opportunity and prosperity where every corner of our country can benefit.
Britain is a nation full of brilliant, creative and resourceful people that is open for business across the globe. We are a success and will be an even greater success in the years to come.
Of course, everyone knows there will be bumps in the road. In the referendum we were told time and again how we’d all lose our jobs, house prices would collapse, and the country would be mired deep in recession. Despite that people voted to leave because they believed in better. They believed in kind of country we could shape together in the years to come. They knew it wouldn’t be easy, yet they voted that this should be the next chapter in our island story.
And write that chapter we will. As your representative I will do everything I can to make the years to come a success for all. That’s why I will be working hard for trade with the EU to be as free flowing as possible. It’s good for Dover, good for Calais and good for trade on both sides of the English Channel. Moreover, it’s good for the EU as they sell us twice as much as we sell them.
Problems at Dover would be bad for all – yet they would be twice as bad for the EU. That’s why I believe Boris Johnson will pull off a good trade deal between the UK and the EU for the long term. I will continue to campaign for the delivery of the lorry parks we have long been promised, the dualling of the A2 all the way to the port, and measures to get traffic flowing properly again, particularly on the M20, the A258 and the Whitfield roundabout.
To mark the historic moment when we reclaimed our independent place in the world, we had some friends round and celebrated at my home on the White Cliffs. We set off fireworks to celebrate the momentous day.
There will no doubt be some hard work in the years to come. Yet together we will build a great future for Dover & Deal and for Britain as a whole.