On Tuesday evening, 12th March 97% of the House of Commons voted on the matter of our departure from the EU and 62% of those who voted, voted to reject the Governments proposal with 38% who approve of it. The Government is proposing another vote this week on the same agreement. They are seeking to persuade some of the 391 MPs who voted against their proposal to change their positions. A few weeks ago, 8 to be precise, on the 15th January one more MP cast their vote on an identical proposal. The result then was 68% rejecting the proposal and 32% supporting it. If on this basis every 8 weeks there would be a shift of around 6% in favour of the proposal, then in 18 weeks time on 9th July there will be a support of 56% in favour of the Governments proposal. It could be that this week there is a similar shift and so it will only take three more votes without having to wait the 8 weeks. For those of us who would request a peoples vote, the fact that Parliament refers to our vote which was 52%/48% so actually very close compared to theirs and took place just under 33 months ago as being set in stone and unflinching, it seems strange that they are prepared to keep on repeating votes in the House of Commons with a desire to see MPs opinions shift, whilst have done absolutely nothing despite many suggestions that they would engage with communities to understand what our views are. Thankfully at least one MP who happens to be my MP is willing to consider things from a different point of view. Speaking on Wednesday after the recent vote Caroline Lucas stated:

“people chose to vote to leave for many different reasons, but a good many of them were voting to say that the status quo is intolerable, that the inequality in this country is grotesque and that they want their communities to have a say in the future. The idea that any or all that will be easier to address if we leave with no deal is fanciful and irresponsible. We need an honest conversation with the people of this country. We need to level with them. We need a new social contract, better jobs, higher-quality public services and investment in the green economy. We need people of all backgrounds and communities to be treated with respect and given the opportunity and the power to thrive. We need genuinely to give back control to people. We need to put young people at the heart of all this. We need that kind of future. We need a green new deal, not the Prime Minister’s failed deal or, worse still, no deal.”

and earlier on in her speech she stated:

“I have been lobbied by so many individuals, families, businesses and universities. The University of Sussex, where one in four staff is an EU citizen, is already having problems with recruitment and retention, research grants and so on, and the same goes for both big and small companies”

It so happens that one of my best friends is one of the one in four staff who works for University of Sussex as an EU citizen. She finds the whole nature of the EU departure very disturbing and for her case alone I would vote for us to remain in the EU, let alone the fact that our business is currently being severely impacted by a number of suppliers who are EU based who are behaving in a manner that is causing delays on our work.