During the referendum Brexit was repeatedly portrayed as a divorce. It wasn’t and isn’t for the rather obvious reason that as a country we were never actually married to the EU. One could of course argue that as the EU moved towards ‘ever closer union’, we could perhaps be described as being engaged. But in no sense could the UK be described as having entered into a marital union. Continue reading

My greatest goal in politics is a strong economy. Without that, it becomes almost impossible to deliver any other political goal. We need sound public finances and a strong economy to fund the NHS, schools and all the public services we value. I believe that this issue is central to the choice facing voters at this election. Continue reading

It’s been four days since I woke up, for the first time ever, in a Labour seat.  In the (very) few hours since I fell asleep, Battersea had fallen to Labour candidate Marsha de Cova.  Given Jane Ellison’s majority of nearly 8,000 - she was not thought to be in trouble. How wrong we were. Continue reading

In his independent report Securing the ballot: review into electoral fraud, Sir Eric Pickles, the Government’s Anti-Corruption Champion, argues Britain’s historically trust-based voting system is no longer tenable when local populations are denser and transient. Identity document (ID) checks on individuals voting in person should be applied at polling stations to safeguard the integrity of the electoral system. The Government will introduce electoral integrity pilots at the local elections in May 2018.   Continue reading

Like many of you I was disappointed at how Scottish businesses engaged in the referendum on Scottish independence in 2014. Too shy, too timid and incredibly risk-averse were some of the accusations thrown at our businesses and for me, it’s hard to disagree.   Continue reading