JOHN REDWOOD has vowed to back Brexit, should Parliament be asked to vote on the issue, despite constituents voting in favour of staying in the European Union.
Earlier this week, the High Court ruled that Article 50 – starting negotiations to leave the European Union – can only be triggered following a Parliamentary vote.
The Government, led by local MP Theresa May, is appealing the ruling and this will be heard in December by the Supreme Court.
However, Mrs May – whose constituency includes Sonning, Twyford, Hurst and Remenham – wants her government to start the Brexit process by March next year.
Wokingham MP John Redwood is well-known for his backing for Brexit and has told The Wokingham Paper that he will be backing any Parliamentary vote to trigger Article 50.
However, his view places him at odds with his constituents: although MP for Wokingham, his seat includes parts of West Berkshire including Burghfield and Sulhamstead. All the areas where he represents voted in favour of staying in the European Union.
Wokingham Borough Council saw 57% of people vote Remain, while in West Berkshire 52% voted to Remain – bucking the national trend that saw 52% back leaving the EU.
There is no local breakdown of the ballot boxes and Mr Redwood argued that there had been a large level of support for Brexit at the meetings he’d spoken at.
Evenly split
Mr Redwood said: “In my constituency my survey suggests [the vote] was around 50/50. The results were reported by Council: Wokingham Borough for example had a lot of Remain voters in the Maidenhead wards, but a lot more Leave voters in places like Norreys judging from the canvass.
“West Berkshire was more balanced overall, with a large support for Brexit at the public meeting I did in that part of the constituency.
“Clearly I cannot vote for both sides. I will be voting to trigger the Article 50 letter. The government and Parliament promised the people we would implement the majority view for the country as a whole, which is what we now have to do.”
Mr Redwood has also blogged on the High Court case, saying he expects the parliamentary vote to pass easily.
He said: “I cannot believe Labour will impose a three-line whip to expressly go against the results of the referendum. If they did the Government should still win the vote, given Labour rebels, some Northern Ireland MPs and most Conservatives voting for.”
Of the other councils that our four local MPs serve, only Bracknell Forest Council residents voted in favour of Brexit, with 54% backing it. In Reading, Remainers scooped 58% of the vote.
