Tulip Siddiq has opposed Brexit

HAMPSTEAD and Kilburn MP Tulip Siddiq tonight (Sunday) said the “only progressive position on offer” was to call for a second referendum on Brexit after describing the European election results as a “horrible night”.

Ms Siddiq broke the party whip to vote against the triggering of Article 50 and has been a vocal opponent of the divorce from Europe altogether. Her own parliamentary campaign in 2017 wavered from national party lines with a local promise to fight Brexit.

She said: “This is a horrible night for Labour especially in pro-Remain areas like ours. Many told me on Thursday that they wanted to protest against our Brexit policy, as I have done in my own way since June 2016.”

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“What’s next? The next Tory leader will pitch even harder right, and Labour must be decisive in support for those who didn’t vote for a destruction of workers’ rights, wrecking environmental protections, ending free movement and more.”

Camden saw around 75 percent of people who took part in the EU referendum vote to stay in the union. Today, despite the healthy majorities both Ms Siddiq and Keir Starmer in the south of the borough hold, the Liberal Democrats topped the polls in nearly every ward in the borough at the EU elections. Votes also looked like they had been lost to Greens, who also want Brexit scrapped.

Ms Siddiq said: “It’s time for us to listen to our membership and our voters to continue calling out the Tories’ reckless pursuit of a catastrophic ‘no deal’ but crucially to become the party of a second referendum. This is the only progressive position on offer.”

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “After three years of Tory failure to deliver a Brexit that works for the whole country these elections became a proxy second referendum. With the Conservatives disintegrating and unable to govern, and parliament deadlocked, this issue will have to go back to the people, whether through a general election or a public vote.”

He added: “Over the coming days we will have conversations across our party and movement and reflection on these results on both sides of the Brexit divide. We will not let the continuing chaos in the Conservative Party push our country into a ‘no deal’ exit from the EU. Parliament can and will prevent such a damaging outcome for jobs and industry in the UK.”