RILED residents have hit out at Stratford MP Nadhim Zahawi after he said his constituents wanted to see ‘Britain leave the EU’.
Residents in Stratford district – whose vote reflected the overall 52 to 48 per cent in the 2016 referendum – took to social media after the children’s minister made the statement on the BBC’s breakfast news show as he discussed the Prime Minister Theresa May’s controversial Brexit deal.
The Tory MP said he was in support of Mrs May’s deal – which MPs were set to vote on tomorrow (Tuesday) but has since been postponed.
He responded to the accusations on Twitter insisting he had said farmers at the Warwickshire NFU meeting on Friday supported the Prime Minister’s deal.
During the beginning of the interview Mr Zahawi told presenter Dan Walker: “My constituents over in Stratford want to see us leave the European Union and have an orderly Brexit.”
He then added he had been at an NFU meeting where men and women were backing the Prime Minister’s deal because their livelihoods were at stake.
After the MP was called out on Facebook, a tide of comments from remainers claimed they had written to him with concerns over the deal, saying they had been disregarded.
One Facebook user said: “How outrageous is that? I will keep my preference to myself. But if you are going to make sweeping statements like that you need absolute evidence – not hearsay. I am very annoyed by this to put it mildly.”
Another accused him of ignoring some constituents’ concerns after he did not respond to a letter from campaign group Stratford4Europe – signed by 200 people.
Stratford District Council is set to consider a People’s Vote petition from the campaign group – which demands a referendum on the final Brexit deal. The petition, with more than 1,000 signatures, will be presented and then discussed by councillors on Monday December 17.
