Ms. McAlpine has branded Robert Halfon ‘late to the party’ on the issue of tackling potholes in Harlow.

YH sent a number of questions to Harlow Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate, Laura McAlpine on the subject of Brexit.

The questions were:

What is the Labour PPC stance on Brexit?

Would she support a People’s Vote?

What is her view on the PM’s Draft Brexit Agreement?

Ms Mcalpine replied: “Two and a half years of Brexit has been utterly draining and divisive. And I, along with many of the people in Harlow who I speak to, look forward to it coming to an end.

But Theresa May’s proposals cannot be the shape of the final Brexit deal. Her Brexit ‘fudge’ has unravelled, she has no authority left and is completely incapable of delivering a Brexit deal that commands the support of her Cabinet, let alone the support of Parliament, the people of Britain or the people of Harlow.

Often, people I speak to in Harlow say that they have had enough, and that they ‘just want them to get on with it and leave’. I completely understand – there was a democratic vote and people in Harlow voted overwhelmingly to leave the EU, but it has to be leave in a way that works for Harlow, and the whole of the U.K. I believe a Labour Government will be able to deliver a Brexit that puts the needs of working class communities first.

Leaving without a deal under this Tory Government would be the worst of all worlds. Even before we leave, we have 14 million in poverty, stagnant wages, continued austerity, almost no council house building, thousands sleeping on the streets, a struggling schools system and a collapsing NHS. This is all down to a Tory programme of aggressive austerity and refusal to provide the much needed investment for our communities. We cannot allow this to be the starting point for a ‘no deal’ Brexit with a Tory government who acts only to serve the interests of the super rich and the elites, at the expense of the rest of us.

The government’s own figures show that a ‘no deal’ Brexit could cost the taxpayer up to £100 billion in increased borrowing. It would be a total disaster, especially now the Tories have already almost tripled the national debt.

People often say to me that it’s easy to criticise, but what would you do? Well I believe the Prime Minister has three options; to go back to the negotiating table and return with a deal that is good enough for the people of Britain, to hand over negotiations to an alternative team, or call a general election.

I believe we need a general election, so that Labour can form a Government and get on with the job of negotiating a Brexit that works for this country. We need a deal that includes a permanent customs union with a British say in future trade deals, access to the single market, a change to the Government’s Fisheries Bill, so that quota is distributed more fairly to the benefit of small British fishing fleets and strong guarantees and protections for our workers’ rights.

We need to get on with the job of rebuilding British manufacturing, creating well paid decent jobs, mass building of council and affordable homes, public ownership of water, mail and rail and a proper welfare state. The people of Harlow deserve a fairer society, and with me as their MP, and a Labour Government, that’s what they’ll get.