Last Thursday evening was the Aspiration Stourbridge Post-16 Education Fair at Thorns Collegiate Academy. Very sadly I was unable to attend myself, having been held back with other MPs for more Brexit voting. All the feedback I have received has been positive, and I hope that everyone who attended came away with a greater knowledge and awareness of their future career options. 42 universities, colleges and training providers were there on the day – our biggest ever event in Stourbridge. Thank you to my team in Stourbridge for organising the event and for making sure it ran smoothly on the day.

On Brexit, Parliament continues to try to find a compromise without, I am afraid, much success. I am still supporting the Prime Minister and her negotiated Withdrawal Agreement, which is the only deal on the table which respects, in full, our manifesto commitments and the 2016 referendum result. I will vote for it at every opportunity.

I also continue to strongly oppose leaving the EU without a deal, which would not only be an admission of failure but leave us dangerously worse off, risking jobs and growth for decades to come. My colleague Rory Stewart MP recently wrote a good piece explaining the risk of no deal, which I cannot recommend enough. You can read it here: http://www.rorystewart.co.uk/no-deal/.

In the meantime, I have tried to support more compromise in the form of Sir Ken Clarke’s amendment on a customs union. It lost by three votes last Friday – the closest margin – so perhaps there is still room for manoeuvre if it can gain a few more supporters.

The Prime Minister’s announcement, following the meeting of the cabinet yesterday is worthy of support, although unfortunately it will be deeply unpopular with many Conservative members potentially leading to a split in the party.

However, we need to face up to the fact that the government was returned at the last election without a majority. Therefore, on a matter of such importance to people’s jobs and security, we really do need to work on a more cross-party basis, if it is not too late, to secure a deal and negotiate our future relationship as we leave the European Union.

I cannot say for certain what will happen in the next few weeks, but my principles will remain the same – to vote for the Prime Ministers deal, and to stand against no deal in whatever ways I can.

As always, you can email any questions or concerns about this article, or indeed anything else, to margot.james.mp@parliament.uk.