Two nights ago, I decided to vote against the Withdrawal Agreement due to my concerns surrounding the Northern Irish Backstop.
Over the last few months I, and many Conservative colleagues, have worked to amend the Brexit deal in such a way to ensure that it respected the result of the 2016 referendum, preserved the Union of the UK and ensured strong trading links with the EU.
I was clear that, if the deal were renegotiated to include a legal guarantee that the backstop was time limited or that the UK could unilaterally withdraw from it, then I would vote for the deal. However, I am a Unionist as well as a Conservative and hence I could not vote for the Withdrawal Agreement.
With regards to the votes that took place last night and will take place today, I would like to confirm that I voted to keep no-deal on the table and I will be voting against an extension of Article 50.
Whilst my preference is for a comprehensive deal with the EU, I would rather see a WTO Brexit than no Brexit at all.