Putney MP claims second referendum only way to break Brexit 'gridlock'

Justine Greening has told the House of Commons this week that with both Leavers and Remainers in her Putney constituency rejecting the proposed Brexit deal there is no alternative but to ‘ask the people’ about the issue.

She has warned the government that parliament will be gridlocked no matter what deal is put to it and said that the impasse can only be broken by a second referendum. This July she became one of the first Tory MPs to endorse the idea of a 'People's Vote'.

She is claiming that arrangements for the vote could be put in place within 22 weeks which would mean a postponement of the projected date to leave the EU. This week the European Court of Justice confirmed that the UK could revoke Article 50 and halt plans to leave the EU with no impact on the country’s membership should they choose.

She said of the deal being proposed by the Prime Minister, “Here we’ve got just 26 pages, a proposed deal on leaving the European union is perhaps the ultimate national policy statement, yet we’ve virtually nothing, it’s the political equivalent of being asked to jump out of a plane without knowing if your parachute is there and attached, it’s like agreeing to move out of your house without knowing where you’re going to live next or not even having agreed the sales price but selling out and signing a contract anyway.

“None of us would do this in our own lives, yet this Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration asks us to do it on behalf of our country.”

“This Brexit deal is not the Brexit that Leave campaigners campaigned for, and it is not the Brexit that Leave voters voted for, it is not delivering on the result of the 2016 referendum.”

The Prime Minister has previously ruled out the possibility of a second referendum and says that her deal is the only way to deliver leaving the EU which the country voted to do in the referendum.

December 7, 2018