A Leyton and Wanstead constituent calls on MP John Cryer to listen to local views Like many Waltham Forest voters – 59.1 percent of us in fact – I woke up […]By Waltham Forest Echo
A Leyton and Wanstead constituent calls on MP John Cryer to listen to local views
John Cryer, Labour MP for Leyton and Wanstead. Credit: Clive Power
Like many Waltham Forest voters – 59.1 percent of us in fact – I woke up on 24th June dismayed to find the UK had voted to leave the European Union (EU).
Knowing that whatever happened next was going to be up to Westminster, not me, I wrote to my local Member of Parliament, John Cryer, who represents Leyton and Wanstead.
I am sure John had a lot of emails and letters like mine, especially when we found out that he had voted in favour of leaving the EU. But when I got his response back, it didn’t answer the one question I had asked: What is he going to do now?
John says he voted according to his personal beliefs, even though those were at odds with the majority of his constituents. Now, however, he needs to tell everyone in Leyton and Wanstead what he’s going to do in parliament to represent the majority of us locally who voted ‘remain’.
John said to me that he was worried that not recognising the vote would undermine the democratic process, when people already feel disenfranchised. He’s got a point, because when people feel ignored it plays into the hands of extremists on both ends of the political spectrum.
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If that is what he’s worried about, he has to respect democracy and represent the views of the majority of his constituents. We need his promise he will vote against repealing EU laws that protect our rights as workers from bad bosses and as consumers from big business, against restricting our freedom of movement to work and study.
As 58.6 percent of people in Leyton and Wanstead voted for John Cryer in last year’s general election, and 59.1 percent in the borough voted ‘remain’, the democratic mandate for remaining in the EU is as strong as his mandate to represent us on any other issue.
So, please, if you live in Leyton and John Cryer is your MP, write to him and ask him whether he will represent the people who elected him and support all endeavours to remain. Ask him, if there is a parliamentary vote on invoking Article 50, whether he will vote against it. Ask him, if as he said in his letter, there was a second referendum on any negotiation package, whether he will vote to protect the rights we voted to keep.
If he does not do these things, why is John Cryer better than any other member of the political class who doesn’t listen to those who disagree with them?
John Cryer has explained why he voted to leave the EU on his website:
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