We all make big decisions in our lives. They’re big because of their implications. Which is why, when I made the decision to resign from Labour’s shadow cabinet to vote against the triggering of article 50 in parliament next week, I thought hard about those implications.

The referendum result last year felt like a body blow. Theresa May’s speech last week felt like the life-support machine being switched off, and triggering article 50 will feel like the funeral. I can’t change how I feel about this. So I will vote against my party whip next week. There have been no clear guarantees before triggering article 50 about protecting single market access, employment, environmental and consumer rights, security and judicial safeguards and the residency rights of many of my constituents and others across Britain.

I don’t believe I will be voting against the views of the vast majority of Labour members and voters

And I don’t believe I will be voting against the views of the vast majority of Labour members and voters. Labour’s voters want a strong economy, skilled jobs and safe workplaces, opportunities for the current and future generations, our public services staffed and run well, and they want peace, security and stability. These are the same members and voters we will need to vote Labour at the next general election, whenever it comes, if we are to be able to influence and lead the future shape of Britain outside the EU.

We need to stand up for our members and supporters across the country who voted remain, but I also need to stand up for my constituents in Cardiff Central. My constituency is a microcosm of much of Britain. A hugely vibrant, diverse, demographically young (we have three universities and Wales’s national music and drama college) but economically polarised constituency. In June 2016, my constituents, like me, were very clear that they wanted to remain in the EU. When I cast what I believe to be the most important vote I will ever cast as an MP, I will be voting for them.

I’ll also be voting for Wales. As shadow secretary for Wales I spent much of my time listening to people, businesses, universities, trade unions, farmers and others, up and down Wales, telling me their real and increasing concerns about the damaging direction Theresa May seems fixed on taking the country.

Wales is a net beneficiary of EU funding to the tune of £245m annually, where in the past 10 years EU-funded projects have helped support nearly 73,000 people into work and 234,000 people to gain qualifications. They have helped to create nearly 12,000 businesses and 37,000 new jobs. Some 68% of our exports go to EU countries, and parts of our farming and food production sector rely almost exclusively on the EU market. So when I vote against the article 50 trigger I will be voting for the interests of Wales’s future economy, jobs, skills, industry and agriculture.

Ultimately, for me, this is about why I stood for election as a Labour candidate. It’s about my party’s values; the shared lifelong values of internationalism, social justice, individual and collective rights and equality of opportunity. I believe a vote against article 50 is a vote for those values, so next week, I will vote for my city, my country and my party and vote against the government’s bill.