The EU referendum moved a stage closer this week, with the proposed deal from EU president Donal Tusk being announced on Tuesday. David Cameron has been negotiating on our behalf on four key areas designed to improve not just our relationship with the EU, but the EU in its entirety.

The first area is sovereignty – a clear worry of many people that the move to ever closer union will erode our national status. The deal provides that not only will the UK be excluded from ever closer union, it will add weight to the decision making process of national parliaments over that of the EU as a whole.

We also wanted to deal with the issue of competitiveness and the problems of red tape. This, again, has been addressed and there is a commitment to tackle this ever increasing problem for many businesses across Wyre Forest.

Thirdly, we wanted protection as a result of being isolated outside the Euro zone. We have already committed to never joining the Euro, but the deal provides for a number of measures that ensure we are protected from things such as euro zone bailouts and trading rules. This strengthens our position as the financial hub of not just Europe, but of the world.

But it is the fourth area – immigration – that has people most vexed. European migrants are attracted to our shores by a number of issues – not least that we have the best employment opportunities in the whole of Europe. One of those ‘pull factors’ is our benefit system and we have secured a number of wins in the arena of benefits. Moreover, we have also secured an emergency brake to halt migrants if it is affecting our public services. This can take effect immediately after the legislation is in place.

So we have five absolute guarantees: we will never be part of the Euro; we will never be part of the Schengen Zone, the borderless part of Europe; we will never be part of a European army, preferring our own military capability; we will never have to bail out euro zone countries; and we will never be part of a European super state.

This deal needs to be ratified later this month, with a probable date for the referendum in June. So for the next few months, battle will commence. I see it as my role to have an opinion on this, but importantly to make sure people have the facts. This question will be resolved soon.