TIME TO VOTE FOR THERESA.

Those who want the United Kingdom to remain within the European Union or, at the very least, to stay so closely tied to it as to make no difference, have yet to explain what are the over-riding benefits of taking this course of action.

When I voted to leave the EU, I did so in order to restore freedom of action to our country. I saw us gaining the freedom to make and apply our own laws and regulations and I saw us being freed from the arbitrary decisions of the European Court of Justice. I saw us gaining the freedom to control our own borders, the freedom to decide our own alliances, the freedom to control our own economy and to make our own trade deals. I saw us being freed of the need to make large financial contributions to an unaccountable organisation, the administration of which is mind-bogglingly bureaucratic and obscure as well as being self-serving and riddled with corruption. I saw us being freed from the grindingly slow processes of this elephantine and mismatched group of nations.

I voted in favour of all of this. Those who are now shouting their opposition from the rooftops have yet to say what they are actually in favour of, other than a continuation of the status quo. They want us to stay tied to the dead weight of a union which was conceived in the aftermath of World War 2 but which has no place in the world of today. Those who are working to prevent any form of meaningful Brexit are either frightened of change and scared to venture out of their Euro-bunker or are those who benefit directly from the coffers of the EU. They can point to nothing positive to keep us in, only to the imagined difficulties which they claim will arise from leaving.

This week, the House of Commons will vote on assorted Brexit-related issues and may well bring the country to a point of total confusion. They will vote against everything and for nothing; as a result, Brexit may well be threatened, delayed or, even, prevented altogether. The government may fall, leading to a general election and a Jeremy Corbyn led coalition of Labour, SNP and Liberals; anyone who thinks that a 'No-Deal' Brexit would be catastrophic should give thought to just what that scenario would mean for us all.

Theresa May's deal is far from perfect, but if it's a choice between that and no Brexit, or between her in Downing Street and Jeremy Corbyn preening himself at the door, there's no choice.