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Keir Starmer faces an uprising from Labor leaders over his decision to back the government’s Brexit trade deal.
The party leader has been warned that shadow ministers are ready to step down and challenge a three-line whip when the House of Commons votes on the deal on Wednesday.
Starmer asked Labor MPs on Thursday to vote for the Boris Johnson deal, saying it was a “binary choice” between the deal offered or no deal.
“When this deal comes before parliament, Labor will accept it and vote in favor,” he said.
Starmer described Johnson’s deal as “thin”, saying it would not uphold workers’ rights or adequately protect sectors such as manufacturing and the creative industries.
Labor MPs had urged Starmer to abstain from the vote, saying he could not hold the government to account for its economic consequences if Labor had supported him.
Others, including some of those who refused to vote to activate the Article 50 process to leave the EU, would like Labor to vote against it.
Sources confirmed that a number of frontbenchers are preparing to step down from voting, while many others will support Starmer’s position while wishing he would abstain.
“It seems that we are defending a conservative project. It is deeply uncomfortable for some parliamentarians, ”said a source.
Members of the shadow cabinet, including shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds, shadow chief secretary of the Treasury, Bridget Phillipson, and shadow secretary for international trade, Emily Thornberry, have been known to have expressed their concern about the idea of supporting the agreement, although they are expected to meet collective responsibility.
Those who can retire are believed to be minor shadow ministers, not the shadow cabinet.
Dodds tweeted Thursday that the deal would have a “major negative impact” on GDP, noting that it would not have “exactly the same benefits” as EU membership, a promise Starmer included as one of his “six tests” of Theresa. . May’s deal when she was a shadow Brexit secretary.
But Starmer insisted that “leadership is about making tough decisions in the national interest,” adding: “It’s about being a serious and responsible opposition. At a time of such national importance, it is not credible that the Labor Party is on the sidelines.
Several Labor MPs have warned the party that they plan to vote against the deal in line with their constituents’ opposition to Brexit, with some saying dozens of them could rebel.
A source said: “We are asked to support a deal with Boris Johnson that is full of loopholes, on issues of safety, fishing rights or a level playing field. Also, it will pass anyway only with conservative votes. I don’t understand Keir’s position. “
Both Houses of Parliament will be withdrawn on December 30, with the Commons sitting starting at 9:30 a.m. and the Lords starting at noon, to push forward a bill that implements the deal, potentially in a single day.
Commons spokesperson Lindsay Hoyle has urged MPs and their staff to avoid travel if possible, given Covid restrictions in place in many parts of the country and the prevalence of the disease in London.
With Labor support, even a significant rebellion by Eurosceptic parliamentarians on the Conservative banks, which seems unlikely, will not prevent the deal from passing.
