Campaigners in Thame have some questions for their MP

SUPPORTERS of the People’s Vote Campaign in Thame have said that they have some serious, unanswered questions for their MP, John Howell.

“Crashing out of the EU without a deal will cause serious damage to investment in local export industry such as the Cowley BMW plant and put medical supplies at risk,” claims Open Britain Thame. The group, which campaigns for a ‘People’s vote’, further states the following:

“In a recent blog, John Howell has asserted that there is nothing unusual about the Prime Minister proroguing Parliament, yet we now know, through documents forced to be published in a court case, that Mr Johnson was plotting to prorogue Parliament at the same time as he allowed his cabinet colleagues to publicly dismiss any suggestion that there were plans to do so.

“In replies to constituents’ concerns over crashing out of the EU without a deal, John Howell has said that Mr Johnson had personally assured him that he did not want a no deal exit from the EU, and discussed progress that had already been made in getting a deal with the EU27. The same day that John Howell was making these reassuring statements, we had the President of the EU Council of Ministers stating categorically that there had been no new proposal from the UK on the Irish Backstop or any other aspect of Brexit.”

Roy Motteram, a spokesperson for Open Britain Thame, said: “We know from the leaked Operation Yellowhammer report that the impact on the UK as a whole of crashing out of the EU without a deal will be significant. We know from the recent whistleblower that the supply of vital medicines will be at risk. We can imply from Jacob Rees-Mogg’s attempt to discredit the whistleblower that the government want us to ignore this concern. We know that Mr Johnson is happy to use his colleagues to mislead the public.

“We know that Mr Johnson’s comments about how well the negotiations are going are incompatible with what the President of the Council of Ministers has said. We know that one of these two people has history when it comes to telling lies.

“We know that John Howell has publicly stated that he does not want to see a No Deal Brexit.

“Given all of this; given the undoubted damage that crashing out of the EU without a deal will cause to local industry such as the BMW plant and all of the small local firms that supply it; given the damage that it will cause to our local NHS, what we want to know from John Howell, is Why?

“Why, when given the opportunity to block a No Deal Brexit once and for all, did you choose to walk into the lobby with Mr Johnson and Mr Rees-Mogg? Not once, not twice, but three times.

“We will be holding our usual stall outside of Thame Town Hall on Saturday, between 2pm and 4pm – perhaps John could come down and explain his actions.”

ED. John Howell MP was unavailable for comment but you can read his latest blog post on the subject of prorogation HERE

NB The difference between a recess and proroguing Parliament is stark:
*MPs decide whether to have a recess and for how long
*During a recess, Select Committees continue to do their work of holding government to account
*When Parliament is prorogued, it is the PM’s choice, all Parliamentary work ceases, and Ministers take on new powers

SOURCE: Press release