I'll listen and consider people's needs before I vote, says MP

After MPs took the Brexit initiative in Parliament, llanblogger asked Clwyd South MP Susan Elan Jones (pictured below) what she was likely to do next. Here is her response ...

"I think what’s happened this week in Parliament is the inevitable consequence of Theresa May losing her majority at the General Election she decided to call in 2017. She could have then reached out across Parliament to gain a real consensus that brought people together. She chose not to do that and instead came back with a poor Deal that most MPs, Leavers and Remainers, could not accept. That was all made far worse when she refused to listen to other views and just kept running down the clock to a No Deal Brexit (something my party and I personally adamantly opposed in the General Election).

In terms of what happens next, we don’t yet know what the process will be. But my big concern is in bringing people from our area closer together and getting a solution that protects our economy and gives people, including young people, a real say.

I have had a large volume of letters and emails from constituents and they contain many different views. These range from electors who want a Hard No Deal Brexit (“even if it costs me my job”, in the words of one resident) to those who believe Article 50 should be revoked. Incredibly, at the time of writing this, 3,904 Clwyd South electors have signed the  petition on the Parliament website calling for Article 50’s revocation. Usually, such petitions get a couple of hundred signatures from our area. This one is on more than 26% of the vote the Tories got here in the General Election and well over the combined total of votes cast for the smaller parties of UKIP, the Lib Dems and Plaid. It’s an incredible figure.

It’s impossible for any one MP to reflect every local opinion. That’s why I think we need to be putting the question to the public by offering a binding, confirming vote on whether they want Theresa May’s deal. This is exactly what happened in Northern Ireland with the Good Friday Agreement - get an actual deal, ask the people and implement that without taking it back to Parliament. I think it’s what we need to do now too.

But if that doesn’t succeed on the numbers in Parliament, I think we also need to be open to voting for other options including customs union and single market membership. The last thing I think we need at the moment is MPs who are unwilling to listen and work with others. Tomorrow, I’ll be listening and co-operating and trying to put the needs of our area first when I consider how to vote."