BREXIT was top of the agenda as the Barrow and Furness MP joined forces with The Mail to answer questions from his constituents on the divisive topic.

In an event streamed live on Facebook, The Mail sat down with John Woodcock at his Walney home to listen to a variety of views as Britain prepared to pass through the European Union exit door.

It came after Mr Woodcock, now an independent MP, met residents at Tesco to hear their thoughts on the Government’s negotiated EU withdrawal agreement.

Mr Woodcock will vote on the deal alongside other MPs in Parliament on Tuesday (December 11) - and used the live discussion yesterday to explain his concerns about it.

He said: “I cannot in good faith vote for this agreement.

“I’ve got leavers and remainers saying reject the deal.

“The effect of this agreement is all downside.

“It would downgrade our influences in a number of areas and leave us with less of a say on crucial issues going forward.”

He added: “The document is really vague in key areas.

“My big problem with all of these agreements is that every economic analysis says the closer you are to the EU’s single market, the better for the economy.

“We are being set up to be a rule-taker not a rule-maker.”

On the prospect of leaving without a deal, a wish of many of the people he spoke to at the Tesco discussion had, he said:”It could be catastrophic for Barrow and Furness if we leave without a deal.

“It would massively damaging to the economy and could cost thousands of jobs.

“It is my responsibility a member of Parliament to do what is in the best economic interests of my constituents”

Residents in Barrow and Furness voted overwhelmingly in favour of Britain exiting the European Union at the 2016 referendum, when more than 60 per cent put their ticks in the leave box. Mr Woodcock voted to remain.

But he said he thought the mood had shifted among voters he interacted with.

He said: “There are passionate people on both sides of the argument and I have been receiving hundreds and hundreds of emails from constituents from people who voted to remain and to leave.

“Those emails have balanced out at around 50-50.”

The MP also joined growing numbers of anti-Brexit campaigners in calling for a “people’s vote” on the final terms of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

He said a potential ballot paper should include three options: to accept a deal, to reject a deal - and to vote to stay in the union.

“People were told a lot of things in the referendum campaign that were palpably untrue,” he said.

“Now we have to say know you what the realities of leaving are, is this genuinely what you want?’

“If we are in this impasse when there is no deal that is saleable then I think you can have a major change of direction if you ask people’s permission first.

“It would not be a betrayal of democracy to ask people again when they are more well-informed than the first time around.”

He added it was “unclear” which Government would deliver his ask and whether there was time before Britain left the EU to hold such a vote.

Prime Minister Theresa May has so refused to back another Brexit vote.

The Prime Minister’s Brexit divorce settlement - the 500-page document negotiated with EU leaders in Brussels over two years - has been widely criticised.

More than 100 MPs in Theresa May’s Conservative party have said they will vote down the deal on Tuesday.

The Labour party, which has also condemned the deal, has called for a General Election if Mrs May loses the vote.

If no new deal can be negotiated with Brussels then the UK will leave the EU on March 30 next year without a deal.