I'm standing to be an MEP because it's time to look past Farage the false idol and build a genuine global Britain

Like me, you are probably dismayed at the paralysis with the Brexit negotiations. The people voted to leave and honour that we must. And yet the MPs in the House of Commons have sadly blocked the deal. Now Labour and the Lib Dems are seeking to reverse the majority view.

I am standing in this election for the Conservatives because we are the only party that can deliver Brexit and then get on with creating what this new direction for our country was always meant to be about. It is about creating a rejuvenated, global Britain. A country that puts free trade, enterprise and an entrepreneurial spirit at the heart of our British identity.

It is only our party that can position Britain to be a low-tax, freer, prosperous, business friendly economic powerhouse with trade links to all continents.

Under Jeremy Corbyn, Labour has become a hard-left Marxist party that will hammer businesses with higher taxes and punish businesspeople. Now Labour is the party of a second referendum; mocking all those who voted in the original referendum. A vote for Labour is a disregard for the national interest. Labour winning this election would be a springboard to a Marxist hard-left government, hitting us with higher businesses rates, higher income taxes, and renationalisation of all utilities at ruinous cost to the taxpayer: you and your family.

Another party serving themselves is the Brexit party. Led by Nigel Farage, they offer no coherent vision of what Britain should look like in the future. They only look nostalgically to the past and seek to close Britain off to the world rather than expanding our horizons to new markets and opportunities.

Farage’s candidates are an odd mix of the far left and the hard right, with no nuanced design for a global Britain. A protest vote for them does not change the stalemate in the House of Commons. Farage and co will continue to have zero MPs and zero say in the British parliament where this issue must be resolved. Only the Conservative party and government can push through a deal in parliament to get this over the line.

A vote for the Conservative party on Thursday is a clear message that you want the Brexit process concluded quickly and then the work to build a global Britain to begin. This Conservative government has already been laying the foundations. Our economy is currently one of the best performing in Europe. We have the lowest rate of unemployment since 1975 and we are increasing NHS investment to £394m extra a week, that’s £20.5bn a year.

A first step towards building a Global Britain must be to reconnect with the Commonwealth. The combined economy of the Commonwealth has already overtaken the Eurozone. While Britain’s trade had been redirected and limited to ever declining European markets, nations within the Commonwealth such as India were witnessing the growth of an emerging middle class, who would be very receptive towards Britain’s high-end goods and services.

The 2018 Commonwealth Trade Review predicted that trade between Commonwealth nations will be worth $700 billion by 2020. And within the UK, the value of our exports to fellow members is roughly double what it was twenty years ago. There is a huge scope for bilateral trade with these nations post-Brexit.

Only the Conservative party has both the vision and the economic competence to turn the Brexit process into a catalyst for Britain’s future prosperity and global ambitions. Make your voice heard on Thursday.

Nirj Deva MEP was the first Asian born MEP elected to the European Parliament