Grantham Hospital - Campaign Highlights

The sorry saga of Grantham A&E is nothing short of a scandal. That it should remain closed at night two and half years after a “temporary” closure was introduced because of staff shortages is a source of great shame for me as the local MP and supporter of the Conservative government.

Am I still a Conservative?

This evening I am attending a meeting with members of the local Conservative association. Many of them are unhappy about the things I have been saying and doing in Parliament in relation to Brexit and want me to be deselected as the local Conservative standard bearer. That is their right.

Over past weeks, it has become increasingly apparent that the Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration on the Future Relationship negotiated by the Prime Minister are unlikely to obtain majority support in the House of Commons today.

Who do I serve?

So this is it. The moment of truth. The next time I write in these pages the Commons will have voted on the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal. Anything could happen. She could win, against the odds. She could lose, renegotiate the deal and then win on the second time of asking.

On 9 November last year, in the opening chapter of my book Square Deal I called for the Chancellor Philip Hammond to use his forthcoming Autumn Statement to declare that the age of austerity was over. One year later,  I am glad to say he has used this week’s Budget to do what I recommended.

The Brexit negotiations are like a nightmare that we cannot wake up from.

I am grateful to Matthew Hancock for giving me the opportunity to explain the history of the temporary closure of Grantham A&E.