THE public have already had their say on whether or not to leave the EU, according to Colchester’s MP.

Colchester Council leader Mark Cory (Lib Dem) wrote to Tory MP Will Quince asking him to back an amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill to allow for a second referendum over the terms of an exit deal.

But Mr Quince said people were clear on their choice during the initial vote in 2016.

He said: “The ballot paper presented voters with an unambiguous choice to remain in the EU or leave.

“The consequences of either decision were communicated by campaign groups through a variety of print, audio-visual and digital media.

“The Government also sent a document to every household in the UK on the benefits of staying in the EU.

“As in every election, it was up to the electorate to judge the merits of the different arguments and more than 17.4 million voters decided to leave the EU.

“Both main political parties also pledged in their manifestos at the General Election 2017 to respect the EU referendum result and these parties received more than 80 per cent of the vote.

“MPs from across the political spectrum voted 494 to 122 in favour of invoking Article 50 in 2017.

“The exit negotiations are now well underway and I am confident an agreement will be reached to the mutual benefit of both the UK and the EU.

“MPs will vote on the deal when it comes to Parliament.”

Parliament overturned seven amendments made to Brexit legislation suggested by the House of Lords during votes this week.

Mr Quince also accused Mr Cory - who represents Wivenhoe - of playing political games by only emailing him over the issue and not other MPs whose constituent covers Colchester Council.

He said: “If you are emailing in your capacity as council leader then you should should be emailing every MP on issues involving the council rather than playing silly political games.”