What has happened with the suspension or the ejection of the 22 Members of Parliament was that it was made very clear to them before they voted that it was a matter of confidence and that confidence vote had to be adhered to. They chose not to stick to the confidence vote, therefore, the political principle is, if you don’t vote on confidence in your Government or your leadership, you leave the party. We’re seeing that in the Labour Party in Westminster at the moment.

But the point, the point I am making, is that what has happened in Westminster over the last couple of days has shown that Westminster has worked. I disagree with that legislation that’s come forward, but that legislation has come forward and has checked what the Government wants to do. Now, you can agree or disagree with it, and, as I said, I disagree with that piece of legislation, but it shows that Parliament has worked.

Now, the response of Boris Johnson and his Government is to say, ‘Right, Parliament has checked me. Let us go to the country; let us have that conversation with the country and seek a mandate from the country to deliver either the deal and we leave, or we hand the keys of No. 10—[Interruption.]—we hand the keys of No. 10 to the other parties so they can do it’. That’s called democracy, and I bitterly regret—I bitterly regret—the leader of Plaid Cymru making the comparison between the Prime Minister of this country and the chief executive of the Hong Kong administration, where people are on the streets fighting for democracy and actually dying for democracy there. You should retract that comment, because, ultimately, the Prime Minister of this country has said that he will go before the country and he will put his argument to this country. And it is you and the Labour Party and the other parties in Westminster that are stopping that happening. You can’t argue against that. That is called democracy. From other quarters in this Chamber today we've heard the word 'dictatorship', well, there’s no dictatorship with the Prime Minister standing at the despatch box in the House of Commons saying, 'Let us go to the country and ask them how they want this country to deliver on Brexit'. That is the question that we will face in the next four to five weeks, and that is what we must answer.

But, above all, what we mustn't shy away from is the instruction that we were given in 2016. I'm a Brexiteer, as everyone in this Chamber knows, but I believe in immigration. I believe immigration is a good thing for the country. I believe in trade; I believe that trade is a good for this country. And I believe that we learn from other people. I don’t believe in turning our backs on the world, but what I have learnt when I’ve been in politics and what I’ve seen in Brussels is an entity that I have chosen do I want this country to be a part of. I engaged in the debate and the discussion in the referendum. I put my flag up the mast. The country endorsed what I and 17.4 million other people chose to do. It is for us to enact and support that mandate and deliver it, and, in five, 10, 15, 20 years’ time, if politicians in manifestos want to overturn that, then so be it—that is called democracy. But to not enact the referendum result of 2016 will be a deeply destabilising time for this country, and we must engage with what is coming in the next four to five weeks with a general election that I urge the parties opposite to engage with so that the people can have a Government in Westminster that will deliver on their wishes.