As I said I would in the immediate aftermath of the referendum, I have largely kept away from the subject of Brexit, believing it right to show respect for the result and give time for the arrangements for our departure to be made without an ongoing commentary from myself.

In any case, I’ve been busy enough working on local issues where I have a responsibility to serve the residents of Market Deeping and can probably make more difference.

But it is becoming increasingly obvious that I can no longer stand by and watch. Those same residents that I try to serve by seeking improvements to the local area will not be immune to the consequences of a disastrous Brexit. And it is increasingly difficult to foresee any other sort of Brexit.

Let me be clear. I don’t see any sort of Brexit which will benefit us but we can survive as a country outside the European Union. Being outside will not trigger some apocalypse. The urgent problem is not Brexit itself but the chaotic way we seem to be heading towards it.

The consequences of a no-deal Brexit would be enormous. There are significant risks to vital supplies, with credible reports of plans for chartering ships to ferry in medication and food. These are matters of life and death.

It is most definitely not in the interests of people here in Market Deeping or anywhere else in our country for the UK to leave without clarity on our future relationship with the European Union.

It is unbelievable that we are in a situation where our Government is having to make plans to avoid disruption to vital supplies. This isn’t the actions of a responsible Government preparing for any eventuality. A responsible Government would not have put us in the situation where this was a possible eventuality!

Let us remember some of the arguments we heard for leaving. Those included the significant influence the European Union has on our daily lives. That was entirely accurate and remains so.  It isn’t really possible to argue that the EU effects what we do to a massive extent whilst also suggesting we can be in one day and out the next without enormous disruption.

The Government is claiming to have plans in place for no-deal but it is clear that in a number of areas these are dependent upon various factors outside their control, meaning there can be little guarantees as to whether the Government’s contingency plans could actually be put in place.

There are some I’m sure who will say this would all have been fine if it wasn’t for those pesky remainers continuing to argue. The referendum result didn’t overnight turn everyone into enthusiastic leave supporters. Nor did it resolve all of the various issues that we’d face that were highlighted by the remain campaign. The problem though is not the divided country but the divided Government.

It is the inability for the Government to set out a strong position that has been the problem. The Conservatives are divided. That was the case before the referendum and still is.

Many visions of Brexit were described in the run up to the referendum but the fundamental point is that it would be up to the Government of the day to deliver Brexit and there could only be one Brexit. That would inevitably leave many on the leave side frustrated and disappointed. This has further weakened the Government’s position as even its leave supporters can’t agree on what they want.

We must avoid a no-deal Brexit at all costs.

It’s time we took back control from the politicians and gave the public a final say on Brexit, with an option to remain in the EU if whatever deal, or none, is on the table doesn’t offer the utopia that it was claimed leaving could deliver.