UNFORTUNATELY at the time of writing I am self-isolating after developing COVID-19 symptoms over the course of the previous weekend.

Thankfully, symptoms are mild at present and I will ensure to update you all once I receive the outcome of my test.

In the meantime, I want to reassure you that my team and I are still here to help. Despite all social distancing being maintained, I was in my office with my team the day before developing symptoms, and sadly, I had to take the decision to temporarily close the office to ensure any potential spread of the virus is prevented. My constituency and Westminster teams are still handling all casework enquiries, answering phone calls, and we are regularly keeping in touch to ensure that I can continue to serve you as your MP.

One of the issues constituents have contacted me about most over previous weeks has been my support for the Internal Market Bill. I want to explain my support for this Bill, how I was able to vote for it despite self-isolating, and what the Bill means for the future of the UK.

At the moment, provisions are in place for MPs to select a ‘proxy’ to vote on their behalf, should an MP fall ill and need to self-isolate. Whilst working from home, I instructed my proxy to vote for it on my behalf.

Last year, when the Withdrawal Agreement was created, a Northern Ireland Protocol was set out and agreed by both the UK and the EU. This protocol was designed to ensure the UK’s exit from the EU was consistent with the Good Friday Agreement, but did however leave some elements to be negotiated and resolved in 2020.

The Internal Market Bill seeks to ensure that Northern Ireland can continue to remain fully part of the UK customs territory by guaranteeing goods moving within the UK will never pay EU tariffs. The Bill also ensures that Northern Ireland’s businesses will continue to have unfettered access to the rest of the UK without any paperwork, as per the Northern Ireland protocol.

Contrary to Labour’s scaremongering and the EU’s unreasonable interpretation of the Withdrawal Agreement, these measures do not prevent the UK from complying with requirements set out within the existing protocol as a part of the Withdrawal Agreement. Instead, they act as a vital fall-back option if no agreement with the EU is reached on the issues that were left to be resolved this year, and will both respect the peace process in NI and protect our United Kingdom.

When I stood for election to become your MP, I stood on the promise that I would help get Brexit done and take back control of our money, borders, laws and trade. My vote for the Internal Markets Bill helps achieve that, by not only protecting businesses in Northern Ireland, but also preventing the EU from imposing unreasonable condition on our Government. Equally, the EU's insistence that, in order to do a deal, we must accept that our fishing waters may again be British, but the fish in them are not, is preposterous, as is the insistence on strict rules regarding 'state aid' to private companies, as though no French or Italian company was ever subsidised.