Simon Kirby, Member of Parliament for Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven has received a great deal of correspondence from local residents regarding the Supreme Court decision that a Bill must pass through Parliament before the UK can start the process of leaving the EU.

This decision ends the legal arguments and today The European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill has been introduced to the House of Commons by the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis.

The Bill, which gives the Prime Minister the power to formally trigger Article 50, is expected to move through both the House of Commons and House of Lords before gaining Royal Assent prior to the March 31st deadline.

The Bill comes ahead of the introduction of the Great Repeal Bill, that will transpose EU law into UK law to ensure the maximum stability on exit, with changes to the law requiring the full consent of Parliament.

Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis said:

“The British people have made the decision to leave the EU and this government is determined to get on with the job of delivering it. So today we have introduced a Bill in Parliament which will allow us to formally trigger Article 50 by the end of March. I trust that Parliament, which backed the referendum by six to one, will respect the decision taken by the British people and pass the legislation quickly.”

Simon commented, “People voted differently across the country. Parts of the country voted to remain and parts of the country voted to leave and I do understand that there are mixed feelings about this. Whilst I voted to remain in the EU, I can confirm that I will be supporting the Prime Minister and the Government and will vote in favour of Article 50 being triggered. I understand that Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed in an interview with Sky News that he will impose a three-line whip telling Labour MPs to back the article 50 bill. We need to unite as a country behind the result of the vote that took place. The British people have given us a clear instruction that they want to leave the EU and Parliament must respect that instruction.”