Most people secretly now wish Brexit would stop, a Liberal Democrat MP has claimed.
Layla Moran said there was a “real chance” her party could reverse Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, but said they would not be able to do it without giving people “belief”.
She argued that “most of the population” now wished Brexit could be halted, and claimed stopping it is “doable”.
In an interview with the Press Association, Ms Moran said: “I think there is a real chance we can do this, and the main thing we need to get across is that it’s doable: if enough of all the people who secretly in bed just wish this would stop, ‘just make it stop’, and I think that’s most of the population now – ‘just make it stop’.
“We can do this but we need to give people belief, and we’ll have a referendum on that deal, one of the options will be to stay in, but we can’t do it without public opinion swinging behind us.
Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran said “most of the population” now wished Brexit could be halted (Andrew Matthews/PA)
“It’s not just us: we need the Labour Party to come round too and again they will be hugely influenced by younger voters and public opinion because they are hungry for power and they will, I think, follow where the people’s will takes them.
“The people, the population have far more power than maybe they even realise.”
The Oxford West and Abingdon MP, who was elected to the Commons in June, also spoke about the difficulties new and outgoing politicians face following a general election.
She suggested introducing a “lag” between an election and MPs taking their seats, like the process in America.
Ms Moran said new MPs were expected to “hit the ground running” immediately after an election, but said a lot of other parliaments allow politicians a period to adjust.
Ms Moran suggested allowing a month for a changeover between parliaments after an election (Andrew Matthews/PA)
“I don’t see why we don’t do that – other countries do. Why don’t we allow a month for a changeover between parliaments, so that it’s done in a way that’s orderly, so that people can actually function, so that you don’t have to wait around until an office is allocated and you have a telephone and that kind of thing?
“It makes it really hard to be effective at your job and meanwhile the constituents are still expecting a service, quite rightly: benefits issues don’t stop because someone has taken up their new role.”
Ms Moran, who is half Palestinian, also talked about the “irony” that the Government does not recognise Palestine, but “at the same time they are very happy to use me in their statistics for the number of MPs from BME backgrounds”.
She said her background makes Palestinian issues more “real”, and said she once got a “slightly different answer” from the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson compared to other MPs when he was being asked about the situation.
“He sort of softened slightly because I’ve got that connection and because it’s personal, and I think that’s what I bring to this table: it’s not necessarily immense knowledge or anything like that – I represent the people of Oxford West and Abingdon, not Palestine – but when it comes to the debate I think I humanise it and it could be a debate that’s so easy to forget it’s real people.”
Ms Moran added: “You could apply the same thing to absolutely any type of person: this is why we need people who are disabled and of all colours and shapes and sizes and ages.
“But actually what the deficit is, is of (the) young, of (the) diverse, and I miss those voices.”