AN EAST Lancashire MP has been backed in his calls for an early general election.

Rossendale and Darwen MP Jake Berry said going to the polls would give the Government more time to implement its Brexit policies.

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The message came as Prime Minister Theresa May told the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham that there would be no second Brexit vote and ‘no unnecessary delays’ in kicking off negotiations to leave the European Union.

Mr Berry told a national newspaper: “An election in 2020 would effectively be an election on the Brexit deal, which could open the door to Labour if the public are not happy.

“If we had an election next year it would push the next vote to 2022, where we will have had more of an opportunity to see if Brexit succeeded.”

Those views were supported by former Burnley MP Gordon Birtwistle, who represents the Liberal Democrats in the Coal Clough with Deerplay ward of Burnley.

Mr Birtwistle said: “To have an early general election is a good idea. My colleagues in Parliament have been calling for it and we have been calling for it at a local level.

“Goodness only knows what is going to happen with Brexit. Jake’s not one of these crazy right wingers who risked jobs and everything to get out, he’s far more sensible than that. So I would agree with him on the points he’s making, given that the Conservatives would probably increase their majority if we went to the polls tomorrow.”

But Conservative MP Andrew Stephenson, who represents Pendle, said Mrs May should focus on delivering the manifesto promised in 2015.

Mr Stephenson said: “I have got some sympathy for what Jake is saying. The Labour Party is in such disarray under Jeremy Corbyn and we are so far ahead in the opinion polls it’s quite attractive a proposition to have a general election now. But we have to deliver on the promises we made to the electorate who voted in May 2015 and deliver on that manifesto.”

Hyndburn MP Graham Jones said he had no opinion on the issue.

Mrs May said: “Let me be clear, we are not leaving the EU today to give up control of immigration again and we are not leaving only to return to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. As ever with international talks, it will be a negotiation. It will require some give and take.

“Make no mistake, this is going to be a deal that works for Britain.”