Yesterday I resigned from the Labour party but I will continue to give my all to you the people of Furness as your independent member of parliament.

It was a busy day in Westminster and I was pleased that my first act as your new, formally independent MP was to demand the prime minister gets a personal grip on the train crisis that seems just to get worse and worse. Her answer was unimpressive but we will keep pushing and pushing until we get a breakthrough.

I am looking forward to the latest meeting of my Cumbria Better Connected campaign in Ulverston Coronation Hall tomorrow afternoon. It starts at 12.30pm and it would be great to see as many of you there as possible to make the case about this deplorable mess.

As I write this, my neighbour Trudy Harrison and I are due to hold the meeting which energy minister Richard Harrington promised me about the future of the Moorside development. I regret to say that there is currently a cloud of uncertainty over the future of this vital project and the 21,000 jobs it will bring to Cumbria. It is essential that Moorside goes ahead and we will be stepping up the pressure in the coming months. We will keep you posted.

It is really sad to be leaving the party that I have campaigned for since I was a boy growing up in Sheffield. I strongly deny the charge brought against me by the party’s ruling body but I am committed to it being fairly and independently investigated. I will now look to refer myself to an independent process so justice can be done.

In particular, it is sad no longer to be formally on the same team as so many great Labour people here in Furness and down in parliament. I have always been prepared to work with anyone and everyone who has the best interests of our area at heart, no matter what their political allegiance. That is as true today as it was yesterday and I very much hope that Labour councillors and campaigners will want to continue to work with me in the best interest of the town. I am proud of what we have achieved in difficult time since you gave me the honour of representing you, including securing the Trident vote, saving our maternity unit and keeping Ulverston’s post office.

But we all know that our area has had it tougher than most from government austerity and there is still masses more to do, particularly given the damage that a bad deal or no deal could bring to our local economy when we leave the European Union. I am so proud to be able to speak up for us and I am pleased to be getting on with fighting for our area in these new circumstances.