As I head back home, the train journey gives me a chance to reflect on a very busy week in Westminster. The House considered the text of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill throughout the last three days, and I was personally delighted to vote for it this afternoon at Third Reading. It passed with a majority of 99 and now goes to the House of Lords for their consideration.
As delivering Brexit was our clear manifesto commitment I would hope that the House of Lords will respect the mandate that the House of Commons has in this matter. We will be leaving the EU on 31st January.
We also heard an important statement from the Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, about the need for de-escalation of the situation in Iran and Iraq, and also the measures we have taken to protect our citizens and service personnel there.
This week I have also met with the Secretary of State for International Trade, Liz Truss, to discuss the potential trade deals that Brexit will open up and my responsibility as a constituency MP to help Newcastle businesses consider exporting, or exporting to new markets. Please contact me if you are a business owner with an interest in selling overseas.
I also joined the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Universities as Vice-Chair: this will give me access to important briefings about the sector and will enable me to better support Keele University and its vital role in our local economy. I will also seek to join the APPG for Students when that meets.
The job adverts that I placed for my Newcastle and Westminster offices close today and I hope to interview and make appointments very shortly. We are also negotiating for a town centre location in which to establish an office with a drop-in “shop”. Please bear with us on response times for the next couple of weeks (I receive over 100 emails a day) - but if your casework is urgent please do mark it as such. My Parliamentary email is aaron.bell.mp@parliament.uk.
With best wishes,
Aaron