New Richmond Park MP Sarah Olney has to be dragged off air after disastrous interview over Brexit
The woman who beat Zac Goldsmith walked out of grilling live on air after questioning about her calls for a 2nd EU referendum
THE NEW Richmond Park MP got off to a disastrous start after she had to be dragged off air during a toe-curlingly bad interview over Brexit.
Sarah Olney left mid-way through a grilling by Julia Hartley-Brewer about her calls for a second EU referendum.
The Liberal Democrat, who pulled off a stunning by-election by ousting Zac Goldsmith, floundered badly in the interview.
She disappeared off air just three minutes into the broadcast after meeting several questions with gaping pauses, only to be saved by a PR person who intervened.
He took over the call and said Ms Olney had another interview to go to, and put the newest MP in the House of Commons out of her misery.
The presenter had asked: "Voters knew what they were voting for in your by-election, they knew what they were voting for in the EU referendum.
“Why do we think that one election should be re-run and one shouldn't?"
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Ms Olney said the terms of Brexit had not been clear during the referendum and it had been a vote on the departure rather than the destination.
"There was no clear manifesto for what happened to our membership of the single market or what happened to freedom of movement," she said.
Ms Hartley-Brewer replied: "Every single leading member of the Remain campaign said a vote to leave the EU was a vote to leave the single market. Nothing unclear about that at all."
After a few seconds of silence, an unnamed aide stepped in and told the presenter: "I'm really sorry but Sarah has to leave now."
The presenter said the MP "should be able to answer some simple questions" about her policy and asked for her to be put back on air but was told Ms Olney had another interview to attend.
"If she doesn't want to answer questions from a radio station perhaps she is not fit to be an MP", she added.