David Lammy claims he's NOT an enemy of the people despite voting AGAINST Brexit
LABOUR MP David Lammy claims he’s not an “enemy of the people” despite repeated calls for a second EU referendum and voting against Brexit in Parliament this week.
Labour MP David Lammy claims he’s not an 'enemy of the people' despite his anti-Brexit stance
The outspoken MP for Tottenham blasted the Tories for fostering a climate that fuels personal attacks against anyone who disagrees with Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plan.
He also slammed the Conservatives for publishing a video on its official Twitter account which accused some Labour MPs - including him - of standing in the way of the British people’s wishes.
MPs voted by a landslide on Wednesday to back May’s plan to trigger Article 50 by the end of March 2017.
If this government is to be the one-nation government it claims to be, the personal attacks must stop
The Government won a huge mandate, with 461 MPs backing the plan to enact the wishes of the British people.
But at least 89 representatives of Parliament voted against implementing the decision in an attempt to delay Britain leaving the European Union.
Mr Lammy wrote in an opinion piece for the Guardian: “If this government is to be the one-nation government it claims to be, the personal attacks that fuel the abhorrent “enemies of the people” rhetoric that we have seen of late must stop.”
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He added: “I am worried we are entering an Orwellian dystopia - one in which not only are people who dare to oppose or differ from the government’s line subjected to ‘two minutes of hate’ but in which we are also seeing words and phrases being systematically shorn of real meaning ‘red white and blue Brexit being surely the most vacuous and patronising of the lot.”
“In Wednesday’s parliamentary debate I made clear that I couldn’t support the motion for a number of reasons, not least that the prime minister decided upon her arbitrary March timetable without any input from Parliament.
“Implying that anyone with the temerity to mention the fact that 48 per cent of the country actually voted to remain is a traitor will do nothing to bring the country back together.
“If you are serious about a Brexit that works for all the British people, then painting the millions of people who are concerned about what the future holds as “bitter remoaners”, and dismissing their concerns as “anti-democratic”, is a surefire way to make sure that a consensus is not built and that the divisions that exist today become deeper and more entrenched.”
The MPs that voted against the proposals included 51 from the Scottish National Party, 23 from Labour, five Liberal Democrats and Green Party leader Caroline Lucas.
They also voted to back a Labour motion that Mrs May must publish her Brexit plan before she enacts it.
David Lammy said that it was important to consider the 48 percent of people who voted against Brexit
Ukip Brexit spokesman Gerard Batten said: “These MPs have just written their own political epitaph
The remoaners shot down the timetable for being too fast and warned it risked pushing the country into a hard Brexit.
Ukip Brexit spokesman Gerard Batten said: “These MPs have just written their own political epitaph.”
But Lammy fired back saying someone must speak up for the people who wanted to stay in the EU. He warned against “vicious tribalism” and cautioned against “alienating our European neighbours”.