TO CELEBRATE the 70th anniversary of our National Health Service, the Prime Minister announced a new five-year funding boost which will see an additional £20 billion invested in the NHS by 2023/4 – an average increase of 3.4 per cent each year for five years, or £394 million more each week, in real terms. This represents the biggest cash boost in the NHS’s history. But money alone is not what the NHS needs, and whilst previous Labour governments have just thrown money into the NHS with little long-term consideration, we will also be implementing an efficiency plan to ensure that every pound spent on the NHS is used efficiently and appropriately on vital frontline healthcare and facilities.

This boost will help our health service to realise its 10-year plan, which will focus on training more doctors and nurses, improving cancer survival rates and providing better mental health care, to make sure that our children and future generations will be able to access the same world-class healthcare, free at the point of use, that we enjoy today.

Over the last two weeks, we have had three days of extensive debate over Brexit legislation, with dozens of votes and detailed discussions as we work to deliver the EU referendum result in the way that maximises the opportunities for UK from current and new economic relationships. The House of Lords sent us dozens of amendments to be debated, and MPs from all sides of the House have been thinking hard about what these mean.

The Brexit secretary set out three key criteria for any amendments – they must not: undermine the negotiations, change the constitutional role parliament and government in negotiating international treaties, or disrespect the referendum result. The government ruled that none of the amendments proposed met these three key tests, and therefore voted against all amendments, which were rejected. Personally, I am a massive supporter of parliamentary involvement and action in the withdrawal process, but the split of responsibility between the government to set and negotiate international (and domestic) policy and parliament to scrutinise it and approve or reject it is fundamental to our constitution and will be retained.

As I always said, this is a hugely complicated and detailed thing to deliver, and given the narrowness of the result across the country and divergent views across Westminster it was never going to be smooth sailing. However, as we continue to make progress with the domestic legislation and negotiations abroad, I trust our prime minister to deliver a good Brexit.

Claire Perry MP