Boris Johnson confronted by woman: 'People have died because of austerity and you’ve got the cheek to come here'

Doncaster voter tells prime minister he is spinning Brexit ‘fairy tale’

Boris Johnson has been confronted by an angry voter during a walkabout in Doncaster who said he had “a cheek” to come to her town. The woman accused the prime minister of telling the public a “fairy tale” over Brexit.

She told Mr Johnson: “People have died because of austerity. And you’ve got the cheek to come here and tell us austerity is over and it’s all good now and we’re going to leave the EU and everything’s going to be great – it’s just a fairytale.”

After telling Mr Johnson she would rather have a Labour Brexit than a Tory Brexit, he claimed: “If you look at it, the Labour Party have decided that they don’t even want to do Brexit after all.”

She responded by telling him: “They’re going to give everybody a vote on an actual deal – that’s more than what you’re going to do.”

Mr Johnson was surrounded by excited shoppers as he visited the South Yorkshire town, which voted by 69 per cent to leave in the EU referendum but is regarded as a Labour stronghold.

As he walked around stalls inside the market’s indoor Corn Exchange on Friday morning, the prime minister stopped to speak to a fish seller.

Mr Johnson was heard remarking: “Look at that... lobster claws. We’ve got to take a few claws out of that Withdrawal Agreement.”

After stepping outside into the packed marketplace, Mr Johnson reassured one shopper: “We’ll get you out, we’ll get us out.”

Boris Johnson shops at a fruit and veg stall in Doncaster (Getty Images)

He also told a trader “we’re going to get a deal”, adding: “That’s the plan, anyway. And if we don’t, we’re coming out on October 31. That’s what we're going to do. Here we go, that’s democracy.”

The prime minister showed no reaction as one man told him: “Find a deal here? This is Doncaster, not Europe.”

The prime minister also stopped off at a “cob shop”, smiling as he bought a loaf of bread and scones from the stall.

As he visited a fruit stall, Mr Johnson moved towards some Belgium strawberries, before eventually buying English Victoria plums.

The prime minister is visiting South Yorkshire after northern politicians made a joint call for more help in their regions from his government.

In a speech later on Friday, he is expected to say: “It is time that we gave more people a say over the places where they live, and it is time that we gave you the proper ability to run things your way.

“We are going to maximise the power of the North. And we are going to make sure that it is people here who are in control over the things that matter to them.”

Additional reporting by PA