In his latest column, East Devon MP Sir Hugo Swire accuses Claire Wright and the remainers of ‘playing political games’

East Devon MP Sir Hugo Swire has accused Claire Wright and her fellow ‘remainers’ of ‘playing political games’ in the Brexit debate.

In his latest column, Sir Hugo says Devon County councillor Claire Wright, who has stood against him in the last two general elections as an independent, has changed from campaigning for a ‘people’s vote’ to now calling for Article 50 to be revoked.

He says the tactics of cllr Wright, and her fellow remainers, was about reversing the result of the 2016 referendum ‘by any means possible’.

Sir Hugo said: “Some statistics about how the country is split over Brexit: there were 17.4 million for Leave compared to 16.1 million for Remain in the referendum – 406 Leave constituencies versus 242, nine regions were for Leave, three were for Remain.

“Here is where the conflict arises: 486 versus 160 MPs voted for Remain. In effect, this Remain Parliament is trying to block Brexit.

“Hence all the shenanigans.

“I voted Remain but I believe in democracy. I don’t consider it morally right to overturn that decision.

“But voting at the moment is an assault course trying to fulfil that objective, daily you have to ask yourself do I hold my nose and vote for this because it’s the lesser of two evils?

“And it’s not just in Parliament where remainers are doing everything to thwart Brexit.

“Cllr Wright, my main political opponent, has campaigned for over a year for a so-called ‘People’s Vote’.

“Her position has now changed. Cllr Wright is now calling to revoke Article 50.

“This means reversing the legal process that triggered the two-year negotiating period.

“So, what does this mean in practice?

“The PM could write to the EU to ignore the result of the referendum, without the consultation of either Parliament or the British people.

“Cllr Wright would do well to understand the democratic deficit this would create.

“Incidentally, when Parliament legislated to trigger Article 50 by 494 to 122, did hardline remainers not understand the terms of Article 50 that we either leave with a deal or without a deal?

“The truth is Cllr Wright’s tactics, alongside her fellow remainers, both in and out of Parliament, were only ever about reversing and cancelling the result of the referendum by any means possible.

“They need to be more honest and say that, rather than playing political games with an increasingly weary electorate.”