Mansfield MP is thrilled Brexit is finally happening this week

After three and a half years of delay and frustration, Parliament has finally completed the process of agreeing a way forward for Brexit and passing it in to law.

It concluded last week when the Withdrawal Agreement Act was given Royal Assent, setting in stone Britain’s position of leaving the EU this Friday, January 31 at 11pm.

After that time, Britain will be a free and independent nation.

The Government will spend the rest of this year utilising that freedom to agree our Britain’s new relationships with other nations around the world, as well as its European partners.

It will seek mutually beneficial trade agreements where it aims to reduce the cost of goods in the UK and take down some of barriers that have prevented British businesses making the most of exporting their goods abroad.

That’s not a simple task, in fact it’s an incredibly complex one, but hugely important for the country.

Importantly, this is an opportunity to forge those new trade deals in a way that benefits the UK, rather than needing to consider the needs of Europe as a whole.

The Government will run those trade negotiations side by side, with multiple teams of negotiators working across many nations at once around the world.

That gives the UK the best chance to get ahead and to play its very best hand in those negotiations which will be conducted by capable and professional trade teams, with some of the most respected negotiators from across the globe leading them.

Meanwhile, the Government can start focusing on domestic priorities, like recruiting 20,000 more police officers and increasing the police budget by nearly ten per cent.

It will be getting on with improving the NHS and finding thousands more nurses and raising school funding and teachers’ salaries to keep improving standards in our schools.

I’m hugely optimistic and looking forward to getting started, once Britain leaves the EU this Friday.