Senior Tory Ken Clarke tells constituents: 'Brexit is not binding'

He has insisted the EU referendum result is not an instruction to MPs how to vote

Chairman of RBS: ‘They will not wait’ (AFP/Getty)

The former Chancellor Ken Clarke has said he will continue to fight Brexit, insisting the EU referendum is "not binding".

The long-standing Conservative MP said Europhilic politicians should vote and speak in the parliament according to their judgment of the "national interest and the interest of their constituents".

In an email obtained by the Guardian, he wrote to a resident in his Rushcliffe constituency: "More significantly, none of the Brexiteers at the moment have any clear idea of what they want to do next by way of actual change to our economy, trade, migration and other arrangements with the EU."

He added: "A flood of legislation and regulations will probably have to be put before parliament over the next few years, implementing changes."

Mr Clarke said the referendum was not a direct instruction to an MP as to how to vote, stating he would make every effort "to contribute to mitigating the disaster that this decision on 23 June might otherwise cause".

Stymieing his call for fellow pro-EU MPs to vote against triggering Article 50, the government has said it will not put the decision to an explicit vote in the House.

A spokesperson for the Department for Exiting the European Union said: “The Government's position is very clear. This is a prerogative power, and therefore one that should be exercised by the Government.

“Parliament voted by a majority of six to one to give the British people the decision on our membership of the EU in a referendum.”