Thank you, Mr Speaker.

May I start by paying tribute to my predecessor, Mr. Chris Davies.

He worked hard for our local communities, raising awareness on the difficult issue of mental health and suicide in our farmers.

I thank him for his service.

Chris followed hard on the heels of the highly respected Liberal Democrat MP, Roger Williams. Roger's are large boots to fill and if I can even partially match his passion, service and commitment, I shall be very pleased.

After a great deal of thought, I have reached the conclusion that it is not possible to serve my constituents' and country's best interests as a Conservative Member of Parliament.

Over 27 years ago I joined the Conservative & Unionist Party led by Sir John Major. Since 2010 I have had the privilege of representing the Bracknell Constituency. The Party I joined in 1992 is not the Party I am leaving today.

Boris Johnson knows that two-thirds of MPs and two-thirds of the public do not want to see Britain crash out of the EU without a deal.

He knows a no-deal Brexit would cause shortages of food and medicine. He knows no one voted for this kind of self-inflicted disaster.

It seems Boris Johnson will stop at nothing to implement his anti-democratic shutdown of parliament and force a disastrous No Deal on the British people. Today, the @LibDems continue to work with other parties on emergency legislation to stop this authoritarian power grab. https://t.co/V0uZSaN9sa

- Jo Swinson (@joswinson) September 2, 2019

A short prorogation is supposed to happen every year...

Parliament is usually closed for a little while in the run-up to a Queen's Speech.

There wasn't one in 2018, however.

...but not for this long

Most of the time, this is a 3 to 7 day break.

Boris Johnson wants to shut Parliament for 5 weeks.

That's the longest since 1945.

The Liberal Democrats stand ready to do everything we can to prevent a No Deal Brexit.

With Boris Johnson determined to plough headlong into this national crisis, which he admits will lead to food and medicine shortages, we now need to work across party lines to take control of the order paper.

Before yesterday's meeting with party leaders, I made it clear that no option is off the table when it comes to stopping the UK crashing out of the E.U. without a deal. I also outlined a potential legislative 'triple lock' to prevent it.