IN September, MPs will begin debating, scrutinising and voting on the Government's European Union (Withdrawal) Bill.

This legislation – commonly known as the 'Repeal Bill' – starts the arduous task of transferring current EU laws directly into British law. As it stands, the Repeal Bill would allow tens of thousands of pieces of critical regulations, protections and laws to be scrapped or changed on the whim of the Government, without any approval by Parliament: the so-called ‘Henry VIII’ powers.

Failure to give Parliament a chance to block any damaging changes to the likes of vital food safety rules, employment rights or climate change commitments risks allowing the Conservatives and the DUP to use these ‘Henry VIII’ powers to change or get rid of protections and laws that we currently enjoy as a member of the EU – or to set new laws that will govern us for decades to come. I’ll be doing all I can to make sure that the process of transferring EU laws into British law is open, transparent and democratic.

I’ve already been working with a group of Lib Dem, Labour, SNP and Green MPs to protect and improve environmental safeguards and to keep our climate change commitments after Brexit.

Crucially, I also want to see EU citizens living in the UK to be able to remain in the UK after Brexit, and to retain their current rights. The Government’s plan for a complex system of residency permits for those who have lived for five continuous years in the UK has created more uncertainty and simply isn’t fair to our family, friends, colleagues, doctors, teachers and neighbours from the EU for whom home is here – even if that hasn’t been for five continuous years.

The Government could – and should – guarantee the rights of all EU citizens whose home is the UK and allow them to remain in the UK after Brexit.

Over 1,700 members of staff working in the NHS in Oxfordshire are citizens of other EU countries. With uncertainty over their future, it is no wonder that many EU nationals are thinking of leaving, or are put off from coming to the UK to work in our health service.

I fear that if the Government don’t act now to guarantee the futures of all NHS staff from the EU by giving them certainty over their ability to stay then Oxfordshire’s NHS staffing problems will only get worse.

I’ll be continuing to work across party lines in Parliament against a disastrous hard Brexit and on issues such as our future in the single market, the customs union and to fully protect the rights of EU citizens.

In addition, I will keep up the campaign for people to be given a say on the final Brexit deal, so that we have an opportunity to have our say on the Brexit deal – if indeed a deal is reached at all.