• IN June last year, 16.1 million people in the UK voted against Brexit. In Islington, 75 per cent voted against leaving the EU and the proportion could have been even higher if the many long-term EU nationals living in Islington had been allowed to vote.

And yet Islington’s Labour MPs, Emily Thornberry and Jeremy Corbyn voted in favour of the bill to immediately exercise Article 50 in Parliament. They say that the Labour Party needs to acknowledge the views of the 17.4 million people who voted for Brexit.

Who then is representing the views of the 16 million who voted against Brexit, including the overwhelming majority of Islington voters?

While the nation may indeed have voted to leave the EU, it is still far from clear what this actually means. Voting for the bill, as it stands, would force the country into leaving the EU within two years without any plan in place to engage Parliament in the discussions or any commitment to holding a general election or second referendum to approve the terms of any deal negotiated. This is reckless, undemocratic and unnecessary.

It is not good enough for Ms Thornberry and Mr Corbyn to ignore the views of their own constituents in the hope of shoring up the Labour vote elsewhere in the country. The people of Islington have spoken and they have every right to expect their views to be taken to Parliament by their representatives.  Otherwise, their only option is to change those representatives. Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, did not override the views of her constituents. She voted against Article 50 in accordance with the 69 per cent of voters in Brighton and Hove who voted for Remain, and rightly so.

PAUL ELLIOTT Islington Green Party