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The City Council has told London Labor MPs that the public “overwhelmingly” wants them to back a Brexit deal, as Keir Starmer tries to avoid a damaging split between the parties on the issue.
After Labor’s crushing defeat in the general election last December, Starmer is willing to whip his MPs into voting for a deal if last-minute negotiations lead to a deal in the next few days.
The Guardian has seen an email sent to all London Labor MPs by a senior adviser to the mayor, Sadiq Khan, pointing to private polls suggesting that even voters still in the capital would like politicians to support a deal.
The email reads: “Essentially, our research shows that Londoners now overwhelmingly want politicians to back a trade deal with the EU if a deal is reached in the next few weeks, even if that deal falls short of the benefits of membership. the EU (42% – 16%).
“This result is particularly interesting since the support is more or less equal among the rest, the graduates and the supporters of all the main parties. Hope this is helpful before any deal. “
Sources from the City Council, the base for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly, insisted that the intention was simply to convey factual background information to help inform the discussion in the party on the issue.
But some of the MPs who received the message suspected it had been prompted by Starmer’s office, which is engaged in an intense lobbying operation to persuade the parliamentary party to line up.
Starmer’s team denied they were responsible for the vote. A Labor source said: “Various organizations have been asking the public what they think about how we heal the country and get over Brexit. Unsurprisingly, there are many Labor MPs who are interested in this information. “
Khan is a longtime Starmer ally and, like the Labor leader, was a staunch supporter of the People’s Vote campaign.
Speaking in Portsmouth on Thursday, Starmer said: “We will take a look at that agreement as soon as we see it and establish our position then, but I cannot stress enough how an agreement is in the national interest. We are a united party, moving forward, focusing on the future, and that is how we have been operating for the last eight or nine months, since I was the leader of the party.
Boris Johnson’s majority in 80 means the deal is highly likely to go through even if Labor abstained, but Starmer and his team believe the consequences of a no-deal exit from the transition period would be too dire for the party to stay on the sidelines. .
Some of Starmer’s shadow cabinet colleagues, including Treasury’s shadow chief secretary, Bridget Phillipson, and shadow equality secretary, Marsha De Cordova, believe it would be best to abstain, however, instead to risk being charged with approving a deal they believe could have disastrous financial consequences.
Many background Labor MPs are agonizing over whether they could support a deal, with some estimating that as many as 60 could rebel if Starmer whips them to vote in favor.
Whatever the details of any deal, it will involve a much more flexible trade relationship with the EU than the deal reached by Theresa May, which Starmer vehemently rejected when he was shadow Brexit secretary.
London Labor MPs, including Emily Thornberry, David Lammy and Catherine West, were among the loudest voices calling for a referendum in the 2017-19 parliament, amid fears that Liberal Democrats could make inroads in support. Labor Party with its strong anti-Brexit message.
But party strategists are now eager to send a message to Brexit voters that Labor has heard their voices, after dropping so many seats to the Conservatives last year.
