AN MP has said his constituents felt "left behind" ahead of the European Union referendum in June 2016.

Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock took to the airwaves this morning and faced questions about the latest Brexit developments, and the reasons behind Barrow's emphatic response.

Appearing on Pienaar's Politics on BBC Radio 5 Live on Sunday morning, he said: "Like a lot of areas in parts of England, people in Barrow feel they are being left behind by the advances in some of the cities which generally voted remain.

"They wanted something different and this was something different but I think what was presented to them was not real."

Mr Woodcock appeared on the show, fronted by John Pienaar, alongside shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Peter Dowd, universities minister Sam Gyimah and former education secretary Nicky Morgan.

He said: "If it is true that we are prioritising the economy in these negotiations then I think the only landing point is to attempt to remain part of the single market and the customs union.

"I've listened to Nicky and I have a huge amount of time and respect for her. The option of a customs union is elusory and something which people at the moment are clinging to but we are going to have to make a choice.

"The overwhelming majority of Labour members are also on the end of wanting to remain part of the single market and trying to preserve our local economy and local jobs and understand that is the only way to do that. Whether we can do that remains to be seen."

Mr Woodcock also addressed claims of Labour bullying from the National Policy Forum.

He said: "It is a very different Labour party to the one I joined and the one which governed Britain, largely successfully, for many years and that remains a difficult and challenging thing.

"I think it is unquestionable that there is at the moment a majority within the party for many of the kinds of things which Jeremy Corbyn has put forward.

"What I don't think there is a majority for is some of the really difficult stuff we have seen bubbling up this weekend in terms of a Labour party which is no longer tolerant of other people and no longer prepared to respect its members."