/Minister claims 80 per cent of people support Mays deal

Minister claims 80 per cent of people support Mays deal

Prisons Minister Rory Stewart found himself performing a public U-turn after using a fabricated statistic about public approval for the Prime Minister’s Brexit plan.

Mr Stewart, 45, a Theresa May loyalist, was pulled up by BBC Radio 5’s Emma Barnett when he claimed in an interview on Thursday morning that ‘80% of the British public support this deal’.

He first asked for a chance to ‘get the language right’, before saying he had been ‘producing a number to try to illustrate what I believe’ because ‘the people who are rejecting this are 10% on either fringe’.

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Mr Stewart, above, a Theresa May loyalist, claimed 80 per cent of the public support Theresa May's Brexit deal. Mr Stewart, who opposed Brexit in the run up to the referendum, also claimed the Brexit secretary Dominic Raab's resignation was 'irresponsible'

Mr Stewart, above, a Theresa May loyalist, claimed 80 per cent of the public support Theresa May's Brexit deal. Mr Stewart, who opposed Brexit in the run up to the referendum, also claimed the Brexit secretary Dominic Raab's resignation was 'irresponsible'

Mr Stewart, above, a Theresa May loyalist, claimed 80 per cent of the public support Theresa May’s Brexit deal. Mr Stewart, who opposed Brexit in the run up to the referendum, also claimed the Brexit secretary Dominic Raab’s resignation was ‘irresponsible’

He then had to admit he did not know how many of the public backed Mrs May’s deal, the text of which had only been in the public domain a matter of hours.

Ms Barnett said: ‘OK, well we went from 80% of people supporting it, to us not knowing yet.

‘I think it’s a dangerous game when politicians pretend that they know exactly how the people are feeling.’

EU Brexit chief negociator Michel Barnier, left, hands over Theresa May's draft Brexit deal to European Council President Donald Tusk earlier this morning

EU Brexit chief negociator Michel Barnier, left, hands over Theresa May's draft Brexit deal to European Council President Donald Tusk earlier this morning

EU Brexit chief negociator Michel Barnier, left, hands over Theresa May’s draft Brexit deal to European Council President Donald Tusk earlier this morning

Mr Stewart replied: ‘I apologise for that, but I do believe – and I totally apologise for that, and I take that back – but I totally feel that if we are given an opportunity to calmly explain this deal, many people who are currently worried about it will be reassured.’

In response to the interview, he tweeted: ‘I really believe that – if people are given the time and the chance to read this document carefully – then the majority (if not eighty percent!) will support it.’

He also attacked Dominic Raab, who resigned as Brexit secretary earlier this morning.

How minister who judged public mood on Brexit deal said parts of his Cumbria constituency are ‘primitive places’

Minister Rory Stewart once described parts of his constituency as ‘pretty primitive’. 

The MP for Penrith and the Border in Cumbria was quoted in the Scottish Sun joking about constituents tying up their trousers with twine.

He also joked about constituents refusing to get medical help for a boy, and said: ‘I was in one village where a local kid was run over by a tractor. 

‘They took him to Carlisle but they couldn’t be bothered to wait at the hospital. 

‘So they put him in a darkened room for two weeks then said he was fine. But I’m not so sure he was.’

Making the remarks a new MP in 2010, he later apologised for the remarks.

He said: ‘What I was trying to get across was not derogatory about people but that we have real needs here, we have communities that are very poor.’ 

Dominic Raab, the now former Brexit Secretary, is pictured leaving his home in Surrey. He resigned this morning in protest to Theresa May's deal

Dominic Raab, the now former Brexit Secretary, is pictured leaving his home in Surrey. He resigned this morning in protest to Theresa May's deal

Dominic Raab, the now former Brexit Secretary, is pictured leaving his home in Surrey. He resigned this morning in protest to Theresa May’s deal

Mr Stewart, who opposed Brexit in the run up to the referendum, claimed the Brexit secretary’s resignation was ‘irresponsible’.

He said: ‘I think what he has done is very irresponsible. This is the guy that’s been in charge of negotiating this deal. He knew all these 540 pages.

‘It’s very difficult for me to feel that this is a responsible thing for the guy who’s the chief negotiator to do on the day that the deal’s announced.’ 

Mr Stewart, the MP for Penrith and the Border in Cumbria, was made Prisons Minister in January.