AFTER three-and-a-half years of failure to deliver Brexit, its now crunch time for MPs.
We finally have the chance to take some decisions over whether we leave the EU with a deal and what sort of deal that is.
In an ideal world we would agree a Brexit deal within the next two weeks and then move on to a general election.
But whether Brexit is delivered or not, this country is heading for a winter General Election and I cant wait for the chance to ditch this awful Tory Government.
Not all my Labour colleagues will agree with me, but we should have an election as soon as possible.
And its absolutely ridiculous for Boris Johnson, who says he wants to deliver Brexit, to stop MPs voting on it unless we agree to a General Election first.
We need a vote on that Brexit deal before we go to the polls. By denying us a vote on his deal HE is now the one blocking Brexit.
The 2017 Labour manifesto on which I was re-elected was clear: Labour accepts the referendum result.
It promised we would seek to unite the country around a Brexit deal that works for every community in Britain.
I repeated these words countless times in my constituency, a former mining area of Nottinghamshire that suffered under Conservative governments.
I told them Labour would respect the 70 per cent of them who voted to leave, but that we would never stop fighting for a Brexit that brought them closer to prosperity not further away from it.
This could be our last chance to keep that promise. That is why I voted with the Government on Tuesday.
Make sure working people are protected
I did so not because I like Boris Johnsons deal, but because I dont like it and I want the chance to change it.
This version of Brexit is flawed. It weakens workplace rights, consumer rights and environmental protections.
It doesnt include a customs union, which would be good for workers and businesses.
This is not about supporting the Tories and their miserable agenda. It is about my role as an MP in opposition.
I agree with John McDonnell, who said earlier this week: By amending the Withdrawal Agreement Bill…MPs have an opportunity to reject the false choice between Boris Johnsons bad deal and No Deal, and instead support an agreement that works for everyone.
I have signed Tory MP Ken Clarkes amendment to stay in the customs union, safeguarding our economy and the many businesses that would suffer if we leave it. I want to make sure that working people are protected.
I want to ensure that Brexit doesnt give the Tories a chance to attack workers rights, as they have been doing for a decade.
If we cant get those changes, I wont vote for the Bill at the final stage. In 2016, I launched Labours Remain campaign alongside Jeremy Corbyn.
I travelled the country making the case for the EU as the best way to guarantee workers rights, economic stability and environmental protections, among other things.
But we lost that campaign. And if I stand for anything, I stand for respecting the voices and interests of working class people, who overwhelmingly voted to leave the EU.
We need a Brexit vote before the polls
Some 58 per cent of those who voted to leave say that politicians dont listen to people like them. It is these people I came into politics to give a voice to.
I cant ignore them on the major issue of our time. I know Labour colleagues who voted against the Government this week are also deeply committed to those voters.
These decisions are not easy for any of us. There is an appetite for compromise in the country which is not reflected in Parliament.
Earlier this year, I invited both passionate Leavers and Remainers in my constituency to meet. The debate was lively, but there was none of the shouting and jeering we see in Parliament.
The majority of Remainers said they were willing to respect the result and Leavers still wanted to leave but with a deal, not without one.
If voters can compromise, why cant politicians? I didnt come into Parliament to protest, but to deal with the world as it is, and make it a bit better.
However I can, I want to tell my constituents that I did everything I could to get the Brexit nearly 70 per cent of them voted for, while protecting jobs and rights in the process.
Shortly after the referendum I was at a bus stop in my constituency. I was chatting to a woman and the conversation turned to Brexit. Having voting to leave the EU, she asked: Do you think it will actually happen?
I didnt hesitate to say, Of course! We are a democracy and thats how people voted. I never thought that three-and-a-half years later we would still be arguing.
I backed the Bill this week so we get the chance to turn a bad deal into a deal the country can live with.
If Boris Johnson really wants to deliver Brexit he has to do the one thing hes so far failed to do and thats compromise. This General Election will be about so much more than Brexit.
It is a chance for us to create a country where power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many and not the privileged few and I will be giving my all to bring that about.
- Gloria De Piero has been MP for Ashfield since 2010.
