Clive Lewis, the Labour MP for Norwich South took to Twitter and said: “In essence, Brexit was a colossal, post-colonial, panic attack.” The tweet garnered many opposing responses from Twitter users. One follower wrote: “You would think Labour MPs would have better things to do.
“Just another reason Labour won’t see power.”
Another said: “Dear god, I know it’s a Bank Holiday weekend, and still people who just can’t bear the thought that actual democracy, ie an individuals right to vote as their conscience dictates, could’ve gone against what they desperately wanted, so, so pathetic, move on.”
Mr Lewis was one of 52 Labour MPs who rebelled against Jeremy Corbyn’s three-line whip to vote against the Government’s Brexit Bill in 2017.
He resigned his position as shadow business secretary in protest against the bill.
When asked to vote in favour in 2017 he said: “When I became the MP for Norwich South, I promised my constituents I would be Norwich’s voice in Westminster, not Westminster’s voice in Norwich.
“I, therefore, cannot, in all good conscience, vote for something I believe will ultimately harm the city I have the honour to represent, love and call home.
“It is therefore with a heavy heart that I have decided to resign from the shadow cabinet.”
Mr Lewis is a former infantry officer who served in Afghanistan and in his tweet linked to an article written in Perspective magazine by journalist Jonathan Lis entitled, ‘Britannia rules only the airwaves’.
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“That is, to be the ‘world king’ he’s always dreamed of being.
“And in the process, appealing to people who might vote for him.”
Mr Lis had a scathing opinion of Mr Johnson’s “Global Britain” post-Brexit policy.
He said it was “not about influencing policy-makers in world capitals or the UN, but about selling a brand to a select group of Tory newspaper editors who’ll disseminate it to voters”.
In his article in Perspective Magazine, Mr Lis argued that “Global Britain is a meaningless slogan”.
He called Brexit, “a genuine scar on the country’s economy and global reputation, totally ignored”.