Rt Hon Sir David Evennett, MP for Bexleyheath and Crayford, has signed the amendment to the EU Withdrawal Act put forward by Andrew Murrison MP that states:

At end, add “and insists that the EU Withdrawal Agreement be amended so that the backstop shall expire on 31 December 2021”.

Sir David signed a similar amendment submitted by Mr Murrison to the Withdrawal Agreement earlier this month, which would have also ensured the Northern Ireland backstop came to an end on 31 December 2021, although that amendment was not called by the Speaker of the House for debate.

Sir David commented: “there are many positive aspects of the Withdrawal Agreement the PM has secured, and whilst I appreciate the need for compromise, an open-ended backstop that could keep us tied to EU rules and regulations indefinitely is a step too far. This simple amendment to provide an end date on the backstop would resolve this problem, and I very much hope the Speaker will now allow Parliament to debate this”.