IT was Britain’s first female Prime Minister who commented that “In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman” and it is our second female PM who is once again proving the truth of that statement with her speech just last week that showed that she wants to “Do Brexit” in the best way possible for the country.

Many had feared an ideological Brexit but instead we had a thoughtful lay-down of a clear path; we cannot be part of the Single Market and control immigration in the way we want but we can propose with confidence a free trade and customs agreement that gives certain sectors tariff-free trade access across Europe. We will collaborate fully with EU colleagues in ways that benefits us all on matters of security and shared investment and we want to guarantee the rights of resident EU nationals as soon as other countries can agree to do the same. We have a 12-point plan that is congruent and coherent, a timetable for the process and clarity on the involvement of Parliament – at the end of the negotiation and now before Article 50 is triggered thanks to the correct (in my view) decision of the Supreme Court.

I’ve also been closely involved this month in the scrutiny of a worrying new development; the decision by the Northern Irish authorities to investigate each of the 302 killings by British soldiers serving in Northern Ireland under Operation Banner. Of course the conduct of our Armed Forces should be subject to proper scrutiny and rule of law, but this process unless handled properly runs the risk of looking like support for prosecution of soldiers for just doing their job – a process which not only breaks the Military Covenant but will have a dreadful effect on Army morale and recruitment. I have made my concerns clear in Parliament and will continue to do so.