Labour MP sparks fury after urging Parliament to ignore Brexit vote and keep Britain in the EU
David Lammy called on MPs to disregard the result of the referendum and 'stop this madness'
LABOUR MP David Lammy has sparked outrage after calling on MPs to disregard the result of the referendum and use Parliament to keep Britain in the EU.
He said Parliament can “stop this madness” and block a Brexit, arguing the result of Thursday’s historic vote was “non-binding”.
Mr Lammy, a former minister, said it remains sovereign despite the poll, which produced a shock win for the Leave side.
The Tottenham MP said the House of Commons, where a majority of members backed Remain, can “bring this nightmare to an end”.
He also laid into Boris Johnson and Vote Leave, saying their campaign was already unravelling and attacking the former London Mayor’s “lies and hubris”.
The extraordinary intervention was met with scorn by Twitter users, who described him as “stunningly illiberal”.
Nick Clark wrote: “Do you not agree with democracy then David? Shame on you!”
Ricjhard Eden said: “What a disgraceful statement. Call yourself a democrat?”
Bjorn Jannsson wrote: “Democracy means one should respect the will of the people.
“Even the ones you do not agree with.”
And Jay Brane-Jarr said it was an “appalling statement from an elected member of parliament”.
Mr Lammy’s comments came as a second EU referendum was ruled out by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
This is despite an online petition calling for the vote to be rerun gaining more almost two million backers.
"The referendum has taken place, a decision has been made, I think we have got to accept that decision and work out our relationship with Europe in the future," Mr Corbyn said.
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Pro-Europeans say there should be a new poll because they believe people did not fully understand the consequences of the referendum.
The petition, set up by William Oliver Healey, states: "We the undersigned call upon HM Government to implement a rule that if the Remain or Leave vote is less than 60% based on a turnout less than 75%, there should be another referendum."
The clamour to add signatures to the Government website-hosted petition comes amid dissatisfaction from voters who wanted the country to remain part of the union, while anecdotes immediately began to emerge from those who said they regretted voting to leave.
We can stop this madness
Here is David Lammy's full statement:
Wake up. We do not have to do this.
We can stop this madness and bring this nightmare to an end through a vote in Parliament.
Our sovereign Parliament needs to now vote on whether to exit the EU.
The referendum was an advisory, non-binding referendum.
The Leave campaign’s platform has already unravelled and some people with they hadn’t voted to Leave.
Parliament now needs to decided whether we should go forward with Brexit, and there should be a vote in Parliament next week.
Let us not destroy our economy on the basis of lies and the hubris of Boris Johnson.