This campaign has been a team effort. We have been blessed to have a superb staff and awesome local party. I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved and cannot thank all our wonderful Lib Dem members and volunteers enough for their tremendous efforts. We almost trebled our share of the vote and threaded the liberal, progressive, internationalist values which are at the core of what this constituency is all about through the entire campaign. We set out to climb Everest but, alas, although we were not far from the summit, we did not quite reach it – this was in spite of the remarkable campaign of the Westminster and City of London Lib Dems, not because of it. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

Just over a year ago I decided to leave one of the two main parties – the Labour Party – in our undemocratic First-Past-The-Post system because I felt it no longer represented my social democratic, liberal values. Like so many, I felt the Official Opposition and the Government had failed to perform their constitutional duties competently, too often they were making decisions in their own interests and had gone to the extremes – I could not remain a part of that. I thought it would be a cop out to walk out of politics at that stage and leave the field without trying to fix a broken system with other MPs of a like mind for the sake of the country and our communities. I still maintain that it was better to try and fail to do that, than to stay put and defend the indefensible.

However, we must respect the choice the people have made today, both to re-elect Boris Johnson and the Conservatives into government, and for Labour to continue as the Official Opposition. I wish them the very best – it is in all our interests that they live up to the trust invested in them today. In particular, congratulations to Nickie Aiken, the new Member of Parliament for the Cities of London and Westminster.

For the liberal, internationalist, pro-European, progressive, centre-ground of British politics, the Liberal Democrats still have a vital role to play, despite the disappointing results of this general election. We will live to fight another day and learn from what has happened these last few months. I will do what I can, albeit outside of the House of Commons, to contribute to that. I said I had re-joined the party this year for the long term – I meant it.

Finally, it has been the privilege of my life to serve in parliament these last ten years for the constituency I was born into, Streatham. Since I was first elected, I spoke in the House of Commons on behalf of my constituents around 1000 times, I held weekly surgeries, and helped over 18,000 constituents with their issues. It was also a huge privilege to do a number of senior roles as a Shadow Cabinet member of both Labour and the Liberal Democrats. I am hugely grateful for the opportunity to serve and hope that I have been able to improve the lives of as many people as possible – the whole reason I stood for election in the first place ten years ago.

It has been a huge privilege to be able to work for the 100,000 residents who live in the area for the last nine and a half years.  I am incredibly grateful to all those who worked for my election in three General Elections and to all those who voted for me in them.  I cannot thank you enough. 

There as so many campaigns on which we have worked together to improve the lives of our community, from securing school rebuilding projects (e.g. Dunraven School), to protecting our cross London transport connections (e.g. Thameslink) when they were at risk, to holding the first full debate on serious youth violence in the House of Commons in recent times.

Without a doubt, the biggest political issue for local residents that has arisen during this time is Brexit, not only because of its negative impact on our economy but, above all, because of the very European identify of our borough.  We scored the highest Remain vote in the country in 2016 and Lambeth is home to more than 40,000 EU citizens.  This is, in part, why I took a leading role in the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign during the referendum, and went on to co-found the People’s Vote campaign – in order to do all I can to Stop Brexit.

I could not do what I have been able to do without the help of a dedicated staff team who have helped me fulfil my duties over the years.  They have worked all hours, often under extreme pressure.  I will forever be in their debt.  Since I was first elected, I have spoken in the House of Commons on behalf of my constituents around 1000 times, I have held weekly surgeries, and we have helped over 18,000 constituents.  In addition, I have visited our schools hundreds of times, done over 100 estate walkabouts and so much more.  It has very much been a team effort.  I am proud of what we have all achieved together. 

In Helen Thompson, Streatham Liberal Democrats have an excellent and incredibly hard-working parliamentary candidate.  She lives in the community and works at an NGO that provides lifesaving aid to people in places such as Yemen and Syria. She led a European Election campaign in the constituency this year which the Liberal Democrats won comfortably, and I have no doubt Helen can win Streatham for the Liberal Democrats and be an excellent local MP. 

In this 2019 General Election I will be standing for the Liberal Democrats in the constituency which, after Streatham, I know best: Cities of London & Westminster.  Like any Londoner, it was a big feature of my growing up and I have worked in the constituency all my adult life, first as a solicitor in the City and then in the West End for almost a decade before becoming one of London’s MPs working in Westminster.  Given that almost all my clients when I was solicitor were businesses in the area, I have a very real understanding of just how damaging any form of Brexit will be for local jobs, trade and people’s livelihoods – my experience working here is part of why I am so passionately committed to the UK remaining in the EU.

I relish the prospect of ensuring the constituency – which is a symbol across the world for open, liberal, internationalist values – is represented by a party and an MP who will be true to and champion those values in Parliament, not least by working to Stop Brexit so we can focus on the real issues facing the community, an amazing community that has been failed by the Conservatives.  For example, under the Tories watch Oxford Street broke its annual air pollution limit with illegal levels of toxic air after 127 days in 2018. According to Imperial College London research, five of the 10 most polluted parks in London are in the City of Westminster.  In the last year there has been a 16% rise in rough sleeping in Westminster.  Westminster has the highest rate of knife crime in the UK and the Met Police’s budget has been cut every year since 2015. 7,000 jobs have moved out of the City since Brexit which will have a particularly adverse impact on the industries centred here.

Over the next 5 weeks the Liberal Democrats will be setting out how we will tackle the problems facing Cities of London & Westminster and build a brighter future for all our citizens, where every single person is valued, empowered and cared for, and where we protect our planet for future generations.  This election is a contest between the Liberal Democrats and the Tories in this area – we will work to win every vote.  If elected on 12 December as the new MP for the Cities of London & Westminster I will continue to work just as hard as I have been doing for the last 10 years for everyone in this community.

It is clear for all to see that the Conservatives have made a total mess of Brexit and Boris Johnson is intent on pushing the UK closer to a catastrophic no-deal Brexit.

The blame for this mess does not lie with Merkel. It lies on the shoulders of the Conservatives.

Liberal Democrats are clear that the best deal for the UK is the one we have now, inside the EU. That is why we will keep fighting to stop Brexit.

The promises made by Boris Johnson and the Conservative Government that the UK would have a whole host of trade deals in place by Brexit day have now long been seen to be nonsense, however this desperation by Liz Truss represents a new low.

This leak shows how Government ministers are willing to abandon safety standards on the food we feed our families in a hopeless attempt to try and replace the trade we will lose as members of the European Union.

The Tories’ vision of Global Britain is in tatters. Our position on the world stage is no longer being a leader in minimum standards to protect people’s welfare, but instead we are witnessing our Government try to roll these back or abandon them entirely.

This grovelling to Donald Trump to get a trade deal must stop. The route out of this mess is to stop Brexit and the Liberal Democrats will continue to lead this fight.

On joining the Liberal Democrats this year I did not demand nor did I expect any special treatment, I simply indicated I wanted to do all I can to help with the general election whenever it arrived.  I have now been appointed parliamentary candidate in a key seat for the Liberal Democrats – the Cities of London and Westminster – which we are seeking to win from Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party.  I relish the prospect of ensuring the constituency – which is a symbol across the world for open, liberal, internationalist values– is represented by a party and an MP who will be true to and champion those values in Parliament, not least by working to stop Brexit.

I worked as a solicitor in the Cities of London and Westminster for almost a decade before I was elected in 2010.  Given that almost all my clients were businesses in the area, I have a very real understanding of just how damaging any form of Brexit will be for local jobs, trade and people’s livelihoods – my experience working there is part of why I am so passionately committed to the UK remaining in the EU.

I will be sad to end my time as the Member of Parliament for Streatham but in Helen Thompson, Streatham Liberal Democrats already had an excellent and incredibly hard-working parliamentary candidate when I joined the party.  Helen lives in the community and works at an NGO that provides lifesaving aid to people in places such as Yemen and Syria. She led a European Election campaign in the constituency this year which the Liberal Democrats won comfortably.  Thanks to her leadership Streatham is now also a key seat for the Liberal Democrats at the next election.  I have no doubt Helen can win Streatham for the Liberal Democrats and, if elected, she will be an excellent local MP.

I resigned from the Labour Party primarily because of the party’s failure to oppose Brexit, the racism towards Jewish people in the party, and Jeremy Corbyn’s poor leadership. Whilst it is important to win seats from Labour, it is also vital we win seats from Boris Johnson’s populist nationalist Tory party – which is doing so much damage to our country – in order to stop Brexit and build a more liberal, inclusive and equal Britain.  The overwhelming majority of residents in the Cities of London & Westminster who we speak to believe this strongly Remain constituency should not be represented in Parliament by the party of Leave – we will work hard to change that.

The Liberal Democrats are already the number one choice for Remain voters in the Cities of London and Westminster and won the European Elections there by a large margin earlier this year.  The most recent publicly available polling in the seat shows that at the next election it will be a contest between Boris Johnson’s incumbent Tory MP and the Liberal Democrats.  I will fight tooth and nail with our members, supporters and the wider community to take this battle to Boris Johnson and his Vote Leave’ government – in the constituency where the Prime Minister lives – and ensure it is represented by a Remainer committed to stopping Brexit and improving the lives of all of its people. 

‪In addition to my responsibilities as the Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary, I will also be leading on the Department for Trade and Department for International Development for the party, shadowing Liz Truss and Alok Sharma.

The biggest UK foreign policy issue is Brexit. I’m looking forward to continuing to work alongside Liberal Democrat colleagues to stop Brexit, champion liberal values internationally, promote UK trade and uphold the UK’s status as the second largest bilateral aid donor in the world.

In a no-deal Brexit, businesses that currently only trade with EU countries will need an EORI number to trade goods into and out of the UK.  HMRC uses this number to identify the business and collect duty on their goods.

Government is flailing from one crisis to the next when it comes to no-deal Brexit preparations. It was only after the lack of preparedness among UK exporters to the EU was exposed by the Liberal Democrats that the government has acted to fast track export registration.

The Operation Yellowhammer leaks expose the government’s own analysis of the scale of the fallout a no-deal Brexit poses for the country including delays at the border, food, fuel, and medicine shortages, and rising prices in our shops.

Exporters might have the correct registrations but Operation Yellowhammer documents tell us they will in all probability be sitting in lengthy lorry queues at border crossing points. There is no form of Brexit that won’t be a disaster for our country, and the Liberal Democrats are the only UK-wide party committed to stopping Brexit.

Growth in the services sector output slowed to 0.1% in Quarter 2 2019.

The production sector contracted by 1.4% in Q2 2019, providing the largest downward contribution to GDP growth. This fall was driven by a sharp decline in manufacturing output, reflecting increased volatility in the first half of 2019.

We already knew real wages are down, poverty is up, inequality is at 1980s levels, and growth is geographically unbalanced under the Tories.  Now we have confirmation that the Tories’ plan to crash the UK out of the EU has crashed our economy. Pursuing a ‘no deal’ Brexit is a political choice without a mandate: these figures show people’s jobs and livelihoods are being sacrificed at the altar of political extremism.

The Liberal Democrats are the biggest and strongest Remain party in the UK. We are clear that any form of Brexit is bad for our economy, which is why we want a final say for the people on Brexit; and we are the only party that can get into government which is committed to stopping Brexit altogether.

In a no-deal Brexit, businesses that currently only trade with EU countries will need to apply for an Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number to trade goods into and out of the UK.  HMRC uses this number to identify the business and collect duty on their goods.

Various business lobbying organisations have been warning for months of a serious lack of preparedness amongst firms for a ‘no deal’ Brexit and how few British exporters to the EU have an EORI number enabling them to continue to trade after a ‘no deal’ Brexit.

As the Liberal Democrats’ Treasury & Business spokesperson I asked HM Treasury (HMT) for the latest figures on how many businesses that will need an EORI number to export to the EU have one, in a parliamentary question on 18th July.

However I was told by the Financial Secretary Jesse Norman MP in an answer shortly before the summer Recess on 23rd July that “data on the number of traders that would need a UK EORI number is not readily available.”

This was in spite of the fact that Government has already privately shared the most recent data with various business groups. HMT also publicly released such data at the start the year but that was before leaving the EU ‘do or die’ on 31 October 2019 became government policy.

I threatened to raise a Point of Order, complaining to the House of Commons Speaker about the unwarranted withholding of such data from Parliament, and also said he would submit a Freedom of Information Request to force disclosure of the latest data.

As a result, HMT have now provided the latest EORI numbers data which suggests less than 3 in 10 exporters that will need an EORI number to trade in a ‘no deal’ scenario have one. If exporters to the EU register for an EORI number at the current rate (up to 10,000 per month), all businesses exporting to the EU won’t be registered until the beginning of 2021 at the earliest.

The data reveals:

• Since December 2018, approximately 66,000 traders who currently trade just with the EU have been issued with a UK EORI number.
• However, based on 2018 data, HMRC estimate that there are approximately 150,000 VAT registered traders who currently trade with the EU and may therefore need to obtain a UK EORI number.
• Figures released by HMRC in February 2019 revealed there were a further 95,000 non VAT registered businesses that trade with the EU and need to take action too.
• According to HMRC the volume of businesses that have registered for UK EORI numbers to date is equivalent to around two thirds of the total value of trade undertaken with the EU, by VAT registered companies.

These figures reveal that an overwhelming majority of UK exporters to the EU are unprepared for a ‘no deal’ Brexit and will not be in a position to deal with the mountain of red tape and bureaucracy it will burden them with on 31 October. 

Pursuing a ‘no deal’ Brexit is wholly irresponsible political choice of the new administration for which there is no mandate and which will put businesses and jobs at risk.

Any form of Brexit will harm the economy and put obstacles in front of UK firms which is why Liberal Democrats not only want a final say for the people on any deal but are also the only party that can get into Government which is committed to stopping Brexit altogether.

Notes:

1. Based on HMRC figures around 245,000 businesses (VAT registered and non VAT registered) who export to the EU will need an EORI number but just 66,000 have applied for one since December 2018 – 27%.

2. HMT provided the following answer to parliamentary question (279012):

Question:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) businesses and (b) companies (i) have an Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number, (ii) require an EORI number but do not have one and (iii) have applied for an EORI number and not received one. (279012)

Tabled on: 18 July 2019

Answer:

Jesse Norman:

Approximately 479,000 traders hold a live Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number issued by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). It is not possible to provide a breakdown of this data.

Data on the number of traders that would need a UK EORI number is not readily available.

HMRC have issued UK EORI numbers to all traders who registered for a number and did not already possess one at the time of their registration.

The answer was submitted on 23 Jul 2019 at 13:24.

3. HM Treasury additional data produced following notice of a Point of Order and Freedom of Information request:

• Businesses currently require an EORI number if they import or export goods with countries outside the EU. In the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal, traders will require a UK EORI number if they import or export goods with countries in the EU (as well as countries outside the EU).
• There are approximately 479,000 traders who hold a UK EORI at present. Since December 2018, approximately 66,000 traders who currently trade just with the EU have been issued with a UK EORI number. Based on 2018 data, HMRC estimate that there are approximately 150,000 VAT registered traders who currently trade with the EU and may therefore need to obtain a UK EORI number.
• The volume of businesses that have registered for UK EORI numbers to date is equivalent to around two thirds of the total value of trade undertaken with the EU, by VAT registered companies.

4. EORI data released by HM Treasury on 28 February  2019: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hmrc-urges-business-owners-to-make-sure-they-are-ready-for-no-deal

5. EORI guidance issued to firms by HMRC: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-a-uk-eori-number-to-trade-within-the-eu

Today the Bank of England confirms what the Liberal Democrats have been saying from the start: that any form of Brexit will weaken our economy. Now we know that even a so-called ‘smooth’ Brexit has a 1/3 chance of sending us into recession.

On top of that, it is perfectly clear that Brexit is already harming our economy: the manufacturing sector is nearing record lows and the pound is trapped in sharp decline. How can the Tory Government claim they can end austerity and grow the economy when their policy of Brexit is pushing it to the brink?

The Liberal Democrat message is now more urgent than ever: give the people a final say, stop Brexit, and with the country back on track, fix the economy. The Government must follow our call now, before more damage is done.