Westminster feels like a cauldron of fraught emotion. Not just in the chamber, the corridors, and the streets surrounding parliament, but among colleagues, with individual consciences wrestled over with increasing regularity. I was elected in 2017 on a staunch “stop Brexit” mandate by the people of Oxford West and Abingdon, so my voting decisions are straightforward, but I sympathise with those like Ken Clarke, Sir Nicholas Soames and my new colleague, Dr Phillip Lee. It is not easy to walk away from a party that you have aligned yourself with for decades. Many of them say their parties have left them, the moderates, behind. That’s a feeling echoed by much of the electorate.

Anxiety permeates the areas in which all MPs work and live. Protesting is a fundamental aspect of our democracy, and I will always encourage this course of action, but it can be intimidating. MPs put ourselves at the behest of the British people, certainly, but we are not infallible or devoid of sensitivity. Though the Liberal Democrats have been clear and consistent, while walking between appointments in Parliament Square, I have been called a traitor, and worse. We are often warned not to exit the parliamentary estate unaccompanied and we are besieged with threats and abuse online. It is not a healthy environment in which to work, but it does reflect the strength of emotion that is splintering our society. What provides me with the strength and conviction to walk proudly among protesters so angry about the policies I endorse is the support I absorb when I am in my own constituency. Whenever I am at home, I am met with smiling faces, and words of thanks, even hugs.

Stopping a no-deal Brexit is about protecting my constituents' livelihoods and their futures

It is easy to feel unsettled, but I know that I carry the weight of these constituents on my shoulders. Whenever I’m around them, it reminds me that stopping a no-deal Brexit is about protecting their livelihoods, their futures. That, I am sure, is what motivated the 21 Tory MPs who have lost the whip as a result of their votes last night, votes that protected the very people most MPs are honoured to represent, votes that were in their best interests.

This harsh discipline merely demonstrates how low this government is willing to go. It shows that it has no interest at all in ensuring the best for the UK, and it shows contempt for their constituents. These moments, though dramatic, are frighteningly real. We need to wrestle back our country’s democracy from the callous clutches of Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings and put it in the hands of someone who we can trust. Right now, I do not believe that is the leaders of either the Conservative or Labour party. One Tory MP told me this morning: “The lunatics are now running both major parties.”

The values that my party embodies have not changed over recent weeks, but Jeremy Corbyn’s approach to working with other opposition parties has. It’s welcome, even if it is long overdue. Jo Swinson has had to drag Corbyn to even this position, a show of unity to block no deal. We have had to put our differences aside, putting the national interest first. As yet, I cannot see us getting to a position where we think Corbyn becoming prime minister is in the best interests of the country – but we do know that his influence, and his MPs, can make the difference, alongside us. Members of the Labour frontbench have also prodded and poked their leader into honouring the wishes of their party membership, something that hasn’t taken place in front of cameras but has been incredibly welcome.

Most of the meetings and negotiations have been precipitated by phone calls crammed into diaries at short notice. The meetings reflect the unity under which opposition parties will operate to defy a no deal, the rules ever shifting and the agenda ever evolving. Johnson has managed to unite parties, and remainers and leavers alike in their anger at his blatant and shameful flouting of democracy. Throwing prorogation on the table has backfired. It has shown our prime minister to be both weak and ruthless in equal measure.

But it is not a longterm solution. Unity will only last on a case-by-case basis. These issues are too important to the people I meet where I live and where I work. That is why I got into politics, to make a difference. I will always believe that my vote, and the votes of my Lib Dem colleagues, are the best thing I can do to save this country from a no-deal Brexit and save it from Boris Johnson.

• Layla Moran is Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon