Jonathan voted for the UK to leave the EU back in 2016, in the belief that with control of our own borders, the ability to forge new trade deals with global partners, and the freedom to legislate free from Brussels, Britain can look forward to a prosperous future.

His voting record for the round of Indicative Votes held on 27th March can be found here

Jonathan voted for the Prime Minister's Withdrawal Agreement on 29th March, and has subsequently provided the following statement on the Brexit process to share with his constituents:

As you may have seen, during the indicative voting that the House of Commons held on 27th March, I voted for John Baron MP’s option that stated the UK should be willing to leave the EU without a deal if absolutely necessary, and Marcus Fysh MP’s motion, which pushed for a tariff-free trade agreement, and a “standstill period” on Mutual Recognition of Standards if a Withdrawal Agreement can’t be passed in the UK.

Although I am against ‘no deal’ - it’s a poor option compared to a decent deal – we still need to show the EU that we’re willing to leave, and it is only by showing that we are going to Leave that we will achieve the fair and sensible exit deal that will work for the UK as well as the EU. 

Whilst it has transpired that I was with the majority of all those Tory MPs who voted on every single one of the 8 indicative votes, it is also now clear that there is not a majority in Parliament for any of the Brexit options that have been put forward!

With this in mind, I am now supporting the Prime Minister’s deal, which, although it is by no means perfect, is the best means by which we can move on from the current Brexit paralysis that has beset Parliament, whilst offering stability to all our businesses for the next couple of years.

Much as I think everyone can respect the Prime Minister’s tireless efforts and undoubted sense of duty to our country, I am hopeful that the next stage of the negotiations under new leadership can be conducted in a more successful way.

I am absolutely of the belief that Brexit must be delivered as both of the major party leaders at the 2017 General Election faithfully promised it would be. Whilst I respect the opinion of many in Woking who would rather the UK remained in the EU, the manifesto that I, and the vast majority of other MPs, were elected upon was to respect the Referendum result and implement Brexit. The whole point of the 2016 Referendum was that the Government and Parliament were overtly handing this key decision to the people in a once in a generation Referendum.  Every MP who said they would respect the result should do so, and I was personally absolutely clear in my 2017 General Election literature and in all my election correspondence and at all the local hustings that I would support Brexit.