COLUMN: We must seize the opportunities that Brexit provides, says MP

It’s a new parliament, a new year, and a new decade: the stable Government that Boris Johnson’s election win provided is good news for Britain and good news for the issues that local people raised with me so extensively during the election campaign, writes Conservative MP for Boston and Skegness Matt Warman.

Among those, of course, was Brexit, but it was also clearly the case that people cared passionately about the NHS, about police numbers and about education.

These are the mainstays of political delivery, and over the next four years they will remain my prime focus.

In practice, that means we must make sure we seize the opportunities that Brexit provides both to remain close to our nearest neighbours in the EU but also to look toward other major markets.

And it means locally delivering the new A&E at Pilgrim, improving mental health services and making sure the new Lincolnshire Medical School benefits Boston and Skegness as much as possible.

With 20,000 new police officers joining the Constabularies nationwide, Lincolnshire must make sure we redress historic understaffing, making sure that we get a real increase that makes a difference in both urban and rural areas. And in roads, education, broadband and elsewhere where budgets are rising, it is vital that Lincolnshire shares in the proceeds of increased opportunities.

As Britain leaves the EU, many people feel angry either that it has taken too long or that it is happening at all.

The best way to move on from that difficult process is to deliver the improvements that are needed, and which are only possible now because of tough decisions taken after the 2008 financial crash to restore stability and encourage growth.