No deal Brexit is the biggest threat to people in Rochdale. The warnings are there in leaked Government documents which state that we face everything from food shortages, shortages of medicines, and queues of lorries at our vital national ports preventing the flow of goods. And of course, this would jeopardise towns like Rochdale’s export industry and jobs. Parliament has made it clear that there is no majority for that No deal Brexit. On that back of that, it is astonishing that amongst Boris Johnson’s first moves as Prime Minister has been to smash the constitutional settlement that has made our Parliamentary democracy the most admired around the world.

Even the independent Speaker, John Bercow, has described this as a constitutional outrage, and he’s right. Wherever you stand on Brexit, this is such a dangerous step and we could be regretting this for generations to come. Boris Johnson’s acts have already united MPs across opposition parties who came to Jeremy Corbyn’s meeting earlier this week. Members of Parliament, across all parties including the Conservatives, will do everything possible in parliament next week to frustrate this move. It’s now time for MPs of all parties to put country before party.

This statement was first published on Rochdale Online on 29th August 2019.