EU Referendum: Unelected Tory Minister Ros Altmann Says Voters Should Not 'Overrule' MPs

'Majority of MPs want to stay in'

An unelected Government minister has apologised after she urged voters not to back 'Brexit' because most MPs want to remain in the European Union - and that would "overrule" them.

In a surprising outburst, Baroness Ros Altmann, the pensions minister who sits in the House of Lords, wrote in a tweet that "your democratically elected leaders" back Remain and that "voting Brexit overrules your own MPs".

Majority of MPs in all 3parties want to stay in EU. They're your democratically elected leaders. Voting Brexit overrules your own MPs

— Ros Altmann (@rosaltmann) June 9, 2016

Baroness Altmann, a long-term campaigner for pensions reform, was given a peerage by Mr Cameron after the election, but was a paid-up member of Labour, the Huffington Post previously revealed.

She later clarified her tweet.

Just want to apologise if my tweet on MPs came over badly. Of course MPs there to serve the people. That's what democracy all about

— Ros Altmann (@rosaltmann) June 10, 2016

The tweet marks the latest suggestion the Remain campaign is increasingly worried about 'Brexit', and is now sounding a more desperate tone and resorting to personal attacks.

Earlier this week, David Cameron's pollster Andrew Cooper tweeted how "every single serious person" thinks 'Brexit' is a "stupid idea".

More or less every single serious person in the world thinks leaving the EU is a stupid idea. On the other hand Boris reckons it'll be fine.

— Andrew Cooper (@AndrewCooper__) June 7, 2016

The comments underline how the polls suggest the June 23 referendum is on a knife-edge.

Last night, the Remain campaign launched a series of personal attacks on Leave cheerleader-in-chief Boris Johnson in a feisty six-way TV debate.

In the prime-time ITV face-off with the referendum two weeks away, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, Tory minister Amber Rudd and senior Labour MP Angela Eagle took it in turns to duff up the former London mayor.

Former Mayor of London Boris Johnson argues for Britain to leave the EU during The ITV Referendum Debate
Former Mayor of London Boris Johnson argues for Britain to leave the EU during The ITV Referendum Debate
Handout via Getty Images

Rudd, a close ally of George Osborne, was the most spiky - beginning on the front foot during the first question of the night on immigration numbers, contending:

“I fear that the only number Boris is interested in is Number 10.”

She bookended the evening with closing brutal remarks when she launched the most ferocious broadside:

“Boris is the life and soul of the party but he is not the man you want driving you home at the end of the evening.”

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