Tom Elliott RMG72
FERMANAGH and South Tyrone MP Tom Elliott said he did not vote against a motion in Parliament last week calling the right of EU residents to remain in the UK to be protected, explaining he abstained by voting both ‘aye’ and ‘no’.
Mr Elliott caused a stir on Twitter last week after it appeared he was one of only two MPs in the entire House of Commons to vote against an opposition motion which called for EU residents in the UK not to be used as bargaining chips in the upcoming Brexit negotiations, however he later explained he had abstained because he felt the motion should have also included a provision for UK residents living in the EU.
When the House of Commons Twitter account posted a graphic following the vote, which stated 245 MPs had voted ‘aye’ and two had voted ‘no’, speculation immediately began to mount on the social media site, with users demanding the two ‘noes’ be “named and shamed.” When a check of Hansard revealed the no votes had come from Mr Elliott and his party colleague Danny Kinahan MP, many on the social media site reacted, with a few stating they were disappointed.
“Talk about standing apart from the crowd,” said one user, stating he believed the pair had “made a bad call.”
“The Ulster Unionists have an identity crisis,” wrote another. “For every progressive Doug Beattie there is a conservative Tom Elliott.”
However, when others examined Hansard more closely, they discovered Mr Elliott and Mr Kinahan’s names in both the aye and no columns.
Speaking to the Herald after the Twitter-storm-in-a-teacup, Mr Elliott explained it was a case of old habits dying hard for him and Mr Kinahan.
“The majority of MPs abstained by not voting, we abstained by voting in both lobbies, which is the way you do it in the Assembly,” explained the Ballinamallard man, who said the reason both he and Mr Kinahan had abstained was because the motion “didn’t go far enough.”
“We fully support the rights of EU citizens currently living in the UK to remain,” he said. “We would have liked to have seen the motion contain a call for reciprocal rights for UK citizens to remain in the EU.”
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