This has been an extraordinary few days in politics and the outcome is uncertain. My position on Brexit remains the same: while I campaigned in the referendum to remain, I accepted the public’s decision. I made it clear in my election address in 2017 that I believed the result had to be respected, and I voted to trigger Article 50 to begin the process of leaving.

I have always said that I would far prefer to leave with a deal, and I voted three times for the Withdrawal Agreement. However, despite my concerns about ‘no deal’, I have also said that it must be kept on the table. I therefore did not support previous attempts in Parliament to prevent us leaving, and I voted against the latest attempt this week.

I believe it will be harder to persuade the EU to address the issue of the backstop, and therefore enable a revised deal to be struck, if they believe we will delay Brexit once again. This is a shame because I believe Boris Johnson is serious about wanting a deal, and that there is a chance of securing one.

I strongly opposed the idea of Proroguing Parliament right up until 31 October, the day when we are due to leave the EU, but in announcing a Queen’s Speech this is not what the Prime Minister has done. The House of Commons was due to rise for three weeks for the ‘Conference Recess’ this month anyway, as in previous years, so the real effect will be to lose only around five sitting days.

I do not believe this is a constitutional outrage, and it did not prevent the House of Commons’ vote this week. The Speaker’s willingness to bend constitutional convention in order to take control from the Government is actually a greater concern.

It has been over three years since the referendum decision, and we cannot keep delaying our exit, prolonging damaging uncertainty. We must therefore be ready to leave without a deal on 31 October if necessary, but I still hope that the Prime Minister will be able to reach a new agreement with the EU next month so that we can leave in an orderly fashion.

For me this has nothing to do with Party concerns. The national interest must come first, and that means adhering to fundamental democratic principles. The people voted to leave, narrowly but decisively, and I believe Parliament has a duty to honour their decision.

In other news, I renewed my call for an Arundel bypass as a further round of consultation on routes was opened by Highways England. Speaking on BBC Radio Sussex, I explained that a proper ‘offline’ bypass is necessary, which will take traffic away from Arundel and the South Downs National Park. A dual carriageway severing Arundel would simply be unacceptable and would result in far more traffic going through the Park. There can be no more delays - it’s time to get on with the Arundel bypass.

I also welcomed the news that funding for England’s schools will increase by £14 billion over the next three years. Along with other West Sussex MPs, I have lobbied hard for fair funding, and the Prime Minister’s announcement is great news which will really make a difference to our local schools. It means that all primary schools will receive at least £4,000 per pupil, while secondary schools will receive at least £5,000 per pupil. 

In my local newspaper column last week, I wrote about the need to improve Britain’s digital infrastructure to ensure that rural areas such as ours are not left behind. Arundel & South Downs is in the lowest third of constituencies in the UK for download speeds and availability of superfast broadband. With the Prime Minister's pledge of fibre to every household, reforms to speed up the rollout of 5G and plans to improve mobile coverage in rural areas, we can close the digital divide.

Please see below a selection of recent articles, speeches and news releases from my website, nickherbert.com. I hope you will find this a useful source of information about my work representing you in Parliament.

If you have any issues you would like to raise with me, whether local or national, please do not hesitate to get in touch. I can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].

With kind regards.