IT’S been a busy first week back at Parliament – with more than a few late nights.

This week the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill was the subject of heated debate in Westminster and much media speculation.

The Bill is not another vote on whether we remain or leave the EU.

It is about converting the many important laws currently made at European level into British laws, on issues like consumer rights, online payments and product safety, as well as more complex matters like copyright, counterfeit medicines and even cyber security.

We need to make sure these laws still exist in order to avoid massive uncertainty for businesses and consumers.

On Monday, I met some of the insurance companies based in Chelmsford.

The UK is home to the world’s largest insurance market and local employers estimate that around 2,000 jobs in Chelmsford are in this sector.

It is important for them to be able to continue trading with other insurers and customers across all of Europe.

They want the insurance “rule book” which covers all insurers in Europe to continue to apply in the UK immediately after Brexit. The Withdrawal Bill is intended to cover exactly this type of situation.

There is a huge amount of devil in the detail, and in some areas the laws can’t just be cut and pasted across so many changes are needed.

The Bill gives Government Ministers powers to make technical changes.

However I believe that where changes are significant, these need to be discussed openly especially with those who may be affected. This is important for many jobs nationally and locally.

The Bill is still in draft form and will need some amendments in its next “Committee”

stage. I will be working on these in the weeks ahead.

This will mean more late nights ahead.

After a summer of delays on the trains (which I am fighting to get improved) I was pleased to find that the 22:38 from Stratford managed to get me back in Chelmsford on Tuesday for just past 11pm!