Nigel Evans, MP for the Ribble Valley, has slammed Lancashire’s labour MP’s who all voted in favour of the Cooper-Letwin bill to pass through the Commons last night. The bill, which gives parliament the right to force the Prime Minister to ask the EU for an extension of time and the right to dictate how long for, was passed by the House of Commons by 313 to 312 votes in a night that saw the first tied vote for 26 years.
The Cooper-Letwin bill will now be passed to the House of Lords for debate, who can amend its content or delay its passage. All of Lancashire’s Labour MP’s apart from Rosie Cooper, MP for West Lancashire, voted in favour of the bill yesterday evening.
Speaking from Westminster, Mr Evans said:
“Leave-voting Lancashire has been truly let down by its Labour representatives, who voted overwhelmingly to frustrate, delay and potentially stop Brexit last night. Blackpool voted 67.5% leave but Gordon Marsden voted to dilute Brexit, as did Graham Jones and Julie Cooper whose constituencies both voted over 66% to leave. It is clear they are on a campaign to stop Brexit, a campaign that is clearly against the will of their own electorate.”
“The MPs who have voted for the Cooper-Letwin bill voted in the same lobby as a tagged prisoner to take a no-deal scenario off the table, it is quite obvious that the possibility of a no-deal was the only card we had left on the negotiating table, and that has now gone. There is a feeling amongst remain MPs that those who voted to leave the EU are ‘thick’ or that they didn’t know what they were voting for, which is very condescending – Lancashire’s MP’s should be sticking up for their constituents, rather than repeatedly trying to stop the Brexit they voted for.”
“I am sure Labour MP’s will feel the full effect of their betrayal to their constituents at the ballot box next election.”