Eastbourne Labour Party Eastbourne Labour Party
Labour has put down an amendment to stop a No Deal, tabled for Monday. The carefully worded amendment seems to fairly address the views of party membership in that it takes the Labour Party Conference Brexit agreement and turns It over to parliament to debate.
But there is much debate on what the amendment means for the Labour Party and where it could take us as a country. Does it put Labour’s alternative Brexit plan centre stage? Will it give second referendum supporters a new rallying position? Will it be the end of calls for a #GeneralElectionNow? Does it hand the Tories a way out of their crisis? Or, in the event of a second snap election, will Labour Leave voters see it as a betrayal thus allowing the Tories (under Boris Johnson?) the chance to pose as the only supporters of Leave?
Jeremy Corbyn was clear in his Britain after Brexit speech when he:-
“appeal(ed) to MPs of all parties, prepared to put the people’s interests before ideological fantasies, to join us in supporting the option of a new UK customs union with the EU, that would give us a say in future trade deals” “we would also seek to negotiate protections, clarifications or exemptions where necessary in relation to privatisation and public service competition directives state aid and procurement rules and the posted workers directive.”
Does this amendment help secure this goal or throw or through it to the wolves?
Let’s not jump ahead of ourselves. The carefully worded amendment does not commit the Party in any particular direction. As it stands, it seems, all options are still on the table.