THIS week I’ve been speaking out against the ill-judged state visit of Donald Trump, a President that I believe is racist, sexist, divisive and a liar.

He says it’s fine to ‘grab women’ sexually; he has offended the LGBT community; he wanted to ban all Muslims from entering the United States; he used derogatory and offensive language about African countries; he has supported far right organisations in the US and here in the UK; the list goes on.

We should of course be having government to government contact, but this is about drawing lines – and I think it is wrong that we have chosen to honour him in this way.

It was grossly naïve of the PM to have offered this visit in the first place - many American Presidents have not been offered a state visit, we didn’t have to do it.

We can have that governmental and diplomatic contact and we absolutely should be standing alongside America in NATO and in so many other ways - but for Trump the red carpet has been rolled out despite him being so offensive to civilised values.

We choose who we honour and I think it’s appalling that we are welcoming with such pomp a man who I think represents the very worst of the world – and certainly doesn’t represent the British and American values that I love.

Last Friday I helped to host a group discussion that attempted to bring together all sides of the Brexit debate - despite having lost my voice towards the end of last week!

At the event, local people, employers, community leaders and young people – from both sides of the Brexit debate – gathered to discuss the biggest challenges that face this country.

Rather than the endless arguments over whether or not we should leave the EU, the aim was to start thinking about how we can heal the divisions in our country and put the focus back on all the other issues that really matter, such as ensuring we tackle crime, invest in our public services and act on global challenges like climate change.

That begins with understanding why so many people voted to Leave in 2016 and how we can tackle some of those issues. My own view on moving forward is that a final say People’s Vote on any Brexit deal is the best option.

It was a really positive event, and thank you to all constituents who attended.