LAST week I got to challenge Theresa May in the House of Commons at Prime Minister’s Questions for the second time in two weeks.

I asked her to be frank with people about the effect that leaving the single market would have on the car, science and university sectors – so crucial to Oxfordshire’s economy - and the fact that our economy will shrink if we pursue a hard Brexit, risking thousands of jobs.

Her response?

She accused me of not being optimistic enough and insisted that it is all going to be fine.

The London School of Economics doesn’t share the Prime Minister’s optimism about a hard Brexit.

Indeed, it a recent report it predicted that impact of leaving the EU union on our local economy would be halved if we stayed in the single market and customs union.

Businesses, academics and those working in the car industry have also been telling me about their fears of a cliff-edge hard Brexit and the UK crashing out of the single market.

By the way it is worth pointing out countries like Norway and Switzerland have similar trade arrangements but aren’t member of the EU.

So this is perfectly reasonable middle ground to pursue as a compromise between the leave and remain positions.

In our area, we face a perfect storm.

We know we are already losing good people. To our north and south we have science parks reliant on EU talent.

To our east, we have a vibrant medical sector. I recently spoke at length to a nurse who works at the John Radcliffe. She described the EU nurses leaving as a ‘disaster’.

The universities sector and our knowledge economy are affected too. EU national professors and graduate students are thinking twice at taking positions.

European research funding is at risk and valuable collaboration opportunities set to be lost.

To the car industry, if we don’t negotiate a way to have components shipped easily and tariff free between the UK and the rest of Europe, as we do now by being part of the customs union, we may well face the prospect of them scaling down operations to save money long term.

Based on Theresa May’s response to my question in the House of Commons, I have to conclude that the Government either fails to recognise the threat that a hard Brexit is poses to our economy.

Or, worse still, that they do know, but they aren’t being honest

A lot is at stake, which is why I am so determined to champion our local economy. People’s jobs should matter more than party politics.