Responses to Phil Wilson’s Brexit Statement

Dear Sir,
Phil Wilson MP states that he respects the majority ‘Leave’ vote in his constituency. Clearly, he does not. He feels that the mood in the country is changing. He is correct. The country now wants our Parliament to stop re-negotiating the Referendum result with the voters and to start robust Leave negotiations with the EU.
Parliament, and Phil Wilson, were instructed to take back control of our laws, borders, finances, and trade from the EU, and not from the British electorate. My reading of the mood in the Sedgefield constituency is that, if another Referendum is called, a substantial number of Remain voters would not vote on the basis that the first Leave vote should be implemented before re-opening the matter. Indeed, many think [like Nigel Farage] that the matter of ‘Leaving’ was settled. That is, should there be another Referendum then the choice should be ‘the negotiated deal’ or, ‘no deal’.
Be aware that Nigel Farage is ready and willing to re-enter the fray, if necessary, to achieve another Leave vote!
Also, if there is another Leave/Remain referendum, nobody on the Remain side has told us how they will deal with another Leave vote. We would be some three years from the first Leave vote without having achieved anything! Phil, do you really need to be told twice what to do?
Again, Phil Wilson demeans himself by denigrating the actions of Leave supporting politicians. Nigel Farage dedicated his political life to securing the Brexit Referendum and winning it! Nigel thought that, with the current Parliament containing 80% of MP’s elected upon a promise to ‘Leave’ the EU, he could safely retire. He actually believed the two main political parties meant to Leave when both their manifestos said they would negotiate leaving the EU. So did I, but from now on the only politician I will vote for is one who tries to implement his promises.
Boris Johnson, Dave Davis and Dominic Raab, all resigned on the principle that:
a) The deal negotiated did not respect the Leave vote. Parliament would not have taken back full control.
b) The N.I. ‘Backstop’ was unnecessary and it would be tantamount to treason to vote for a deal which could have resulted in breaking Northern Ireland away from the U.K.
As for the so called ‘back-stop’. The ERG has developed the principle of the need for a hard border being met by a ’Virtual’ border. Indeed, not only have the EU agreed that this is the way to avoid a hard border, but also the Irish Republic has said that, in the event of ‘No-deal’, they would not create a hard border; rather they would rely on developing the ERG ‘Virtual’ border. No British politician should support a deal with the ‘back-stop’ in it. We are leaving the EU. It is up to both parties to manage their own borders. We are allowing the continuation of the Irish ‘Common Travel Area’. Surely we can agree to operate a ‘Virtual’ border.
Perhaps, if MP Phil Wilson could recognise political principles in others, he would resign his seat and allow his constituents to choose an MP who supported his constituent’s wish to leave.
Brexit has been mired up in dirty Party Political survival politics. The Referendum cut across party lines. Unfortunately (mainly for Labour/Momentum), it also demonstrated an increasing North/South divide. Most Labour/Momentum MP’s in the North are in a similar situation to Phil Wilson. The London-centric Labour/Momentum MP’s are standing up for their Remain constituents while in the North Labour MP’s are ignoring their Leave constituents.
If all ‘Remain’ MP’s, who were elected in a constituency which voted to Leave, (e,g, Phil Wilson) were to honour their constituent’s wishes and vote for a deal which meant Britain actually took back control from the EU, then there is a chance that we would avoid ‘No Deal’.
I would suggest that Parliament accepts the Teresa May deal without the backstop and with any other necessary ‘tweeks’. This should then be sent to the EU on a ‘take-it or-leave it’ basis.
I can guarantee that sensible negotiations would ensue; even if the negotiations were only to achieve a ‘managed Brexit’. That is, a no-deal Brexit without the ‘catastrophic’ impact being foretold under ‘Project Fear No.3’.
Yours sincerely,
Alastair P.G. Welsh

Dear Sir,
Mr Wilson, when you stood for election you said you were a local man, can you please confirm that you still are? What has happened to your local values as it seems that you no longer want to represent your constituents.
The facts you use in your Brexit statement are far from true and are personal and should not reflect on what we voted for and I ask you, as our so called Labour MP, to fight for us to leave the EU fully. You say it is your duty to give us your thoughts and tell us of the issues we face leaving, some of which are scare mongering, the likes of having to stockpile medicine, food, major traffic jams, etc, which you are, one of the few, that believes this. As for the comment about the people who pushed for Brexit, Boris Johnson, David Davis and Dominic Raab, get your facts right, these decent MPs are still sticking the course as they are still fighting to get the people who voted out of the EU. We hear from your constituents by letters to the media, on TV and as we talk to each other about it and the majority find that you are not an MP easy to contact and are not doing your job as an MP to represent your people by not listening to them.
When have you ever decided to hold a mediation for your constituents to meet face to face, instead of just writing letters or making comments in papers or on the media? I, in fact before the last election, emailed you to ask if you were holding any meetings open to us and am still awaiting a reply. I think a few hundred emails in a constituency of this area is a drop in the ocean, this must tell you something.
Listening to the media reporting in our area it seems now that a lot of the people who voted to stay and have seen how we are treated and blackmailed by the EU would now vote to leave. As you told us in a letter, you have no loyalty to Mr Corbyn’s Labour party, so as this is the thought of an independent Labour man I would think that we find that we have a vote of no confidence in our MP and you think that in situations like this a public vote should decide. Why not resign as our MP and stand as an independent Labour man and see if the public would vote you in or listen to your constituents? We don’t need a public vote nor a second referendum, we voted to leave the UN to become an independent self ruling Great Britain again. I have also forwarded this to the Newton News as a reply to the so called statement you made to them to print. Maybe this time I might get some sort of reply from you.
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