Dear Mr Forrester



Thank you for writing to me about the Withdrawal Agreement that the Prime Minister has negotiated with the European Union.

It is clear from conversations and correspondence I have had with residents and businesses that people want Brexit to be settled and for us to focus on other issues. It is also important to recognise these negotiations have not been straightforward and there are diverse views on the matter.

My postbag has been enormous and has reflected every view from 'Remain within the EU' to 'Crash out with No-Deal'. Our constituency voted 'Leave' in a referendum with a record voter turnout and I see no evidence from correspondence to suggest that this view has changed. The Government is committed to honour the results of the referendum and has consistently resisted requests for a second referendum, or People's Vote.

However both the EU and the Government are clear that this is the only deal on the table. The other options are a No-Deal Brexit or No Brexit. Business leaders have suggested that a No-Deal scenario would be the very worst for business. While Mark Carney's statement last week referred to a worst case scenario, it is impossible to think that there will not be serious consequences if we leave the EU in a disorganised fashion.

The agreement that has been reached is a compromise, but that is the very nature of negotiations. Over the weekend several Government Ministers have made statements reinforcing this; while it may not be the perfect deal, it is the best on offer and allows for a degree of certainty. In a very outline summary, it allows us to embrace the opportunities leaving the EU presents and minimises the disruptive downsides. It would have been unrealistic to believe that the EU would agree to all our requests.

I understand that there are concerns about the backstop but I concur with the view expressed by the Attorney General in his statement on 3rd December, that 'it is a sensible compromise.' In fact the conditions that exist under the backstop would confer a competitive advantage upon the UK; a situation that the EU would be keen to resolve.

The vote on the 11th December relates to the details namely the withdrawal and transition, not our future trading arrangements. It is definitely not the final destination, but a step towards it. I will continue to take a pragmatic approach, as I have done since the referendum result and will be supporting our Prime Minister.

This is the most difficult decision I have had to make in my parliamentary career as there will be many constituents from both sides of the debate who feel let down. I have read and scrutinised all 585 pages of the Arrangement and the 27 pages of the draft Political Declaration in order to inform my choice. The primary issue was always going to be how to deliver a workable solution to a binary question; to Leave or to Remain.

I have published a statement on the Withdrawal Arrangement on my website.

Thank you again for contacting me and do not hesitate to get in touch on this or any other matters you think I can help with.



Kind regards



Jo Churchill MP