A HAMPSHIRE MP has come out in support of draft Brexit agreement, despite a number of government ministers resigning.

George Hollingbery, Conservative MP for the Meon Valley, said: "The deal the Prime Minister has agreed with the EU has delivered on what the referendum mandated: we will be leaving the EU in March next year, the right to free movement will end, we will take back control of our laws and we will be leaving the single market.

"I understand that fervent Brexiteers will say some of these things aren’t delivered instantly and that there remains some uncertainty on others. They will protest that we will have to follow EU rules on goods. And they will be right.

 

"But, crucially, the deal also delivers continued, near friction-free access to EU markets, which guarantees so many jobs and livelihoods all over the UK.

"It is this last objective that has shaped the deal and, once put at the heart of what we were negotiating for, there was no other possible outcome than what the PM presented to cabinet yesterday and to parliament this morning."

Mr Hollingbery, who lives in Alresford, added: "It’s perfectly logical to reject this deal because of the compromises it makes but only if those who do so are prepared to accept the economic consequences that many people and their families would face across the UK. I am not prepared to do that.

"This deal delivers Brexit in a humane and considered way and fulfils the objectives the PM outlined at the start of the process. I hope that Parliament will pass it."

Meon Valley MP George Hollingbery.Meon Valley MP George Hollingbery.

Mr Hollingbery was appointed minister for trade policy earlier this year after previously serving as parliamentary private secretary to the Prime Minister.

His statement followed the resignations of Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, work and pensions secretary Esther McVey, Brexit minister Suella Braverman (MP for Fareham) and Northern Ireland minister Shailesh Vara.

Parliamentary private secretaries Ranil Jayawardena (Mistry of Justice, MP for North East Hampshire) and Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Education) have also resigned.