Daniel Zeichner, MP for Cambridge, will speak in the Brexit debate today [5th December] and tell Parliament that although May’s deal would be damaging for the UK, “there is a very very good deal on offer. It is the one we currently have, as members of the EU“.

He will tell the House:

“There is a simple fact of geography. We are part of Europe, just as Ireland is one island – and nothing can change either of those facts. So we will have a relationship, it is just a case of what kind it will be. And for those who have already ‘had enough’, of Brexit and all the negotiations, I’m afraid this risks being only the start of near perpetual negotiations.“

He will go on to discuss future immigration, explaining that discussions over the changes to free movement if we leave the EU “have been a cause of intense distress and uncertainty in Cambridge since the referendum, not just with the thousands of non-UK EU nationals anxious about their futures, but causing real distress for their friends, neighbours and work-mates who never expected to suddenly see such divisions.“

He will tell Parliament that changes to our EEA immigration rules could have the potential to “seriously harm the UK’s competitiveness“ in the research, science and university sectors. He will explain that “The Prime Minister has gone from aiming to be part of the European Medicines Agency, and the European Research Council’s programmes, to a ‘hope’ of ‘some form of co-operation’. With such weak limited ambition, the future for research and innovation, the shining star in the UK economy, looks less bright.“

Mr Zeichner comments: “This is one of the most important debates that we’ve had over the last few years regarding our future relationship with the EU, and it reflects the mood of the country – that the tide is turning on Brexit, now the real risks and dangers are increasingly clear. The right thing to do is to return to the people on this issue, either in an election or in a public vote”

“The irony is that the EU is itself the place where negotiations are done – coming out doesn’t end the need for coming to agreements with others, or following standards that much bigger trading partners will decide, it just makes it harder!“