What an extraordinary day! It ended with success for the Government, pushing through the Article 50 Bill, which fires the starting gun for our negotiated withdrawal of the EU. I was up in London the night before as we had to defeat two amendments from the Lords. One concerned the rights of EU citizens in the UK, the other was a call for a "meaningful vote" on the final deal we strike with the EU in two years' time. Of course we'd like to reassure EU citizens working and living here that they can remain, but that must be reciprocated by the EU for our citizens living over there. The Parliamentary day began with Defence Questions. I caught the Speaker's eye and asked the minister whether he believed we had enough RN ships to meet all our commitments which include protecting our coastline, defending our trade routes, looking after our dependents and of course meeting our NATO commitments. Despite the reassurance that we have, I am not so confident. History has shown how vital a strong RN is and I do not believe we have enough vessels in the event the proverbial hits the fan. Sadly, due to the fact I was meeting Dorset P&CC Martyn Underhill with prisons' minister Sam Gyimah, I could not meet students from St Mary's RC Primary School who were visiting the Commons. Mr Underhill and I are keen to have a Dorset prison for Dorset prisoners, for all the obvious reasons. The minister kindly agreed to meet us and we all gathered in my office for a private chat. Mr Underhill made several suggestions, which the minister listened to carefully. Then it came to the votes on the Lords' amendments, which were debated for two hours. We were all delighted at the outcome and later the Lords came into line too. An historic day. Now the country must stand together as we negotiate our way out of the EU over the next two years.