Cogito Ergo Non Serviam
Labour Likely to Shoot Down Any Brexit Deal
The Labour Party is holding its annual conference in Liverpool, and despite the ridiculous in-fighting over anti-Semitism and the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, something positive has finally come from Labour. Sir Keir Starmer, the party's Brexit spokesman, said the Brexit deal is almost certain to fail the six tests Labour has set for any arrangement with the EU. If so, the party will vote against it in Commons, and since the Tories are a minority government, that may doom any deal.
The six tests are:
- Does it ensure a strong and collaborative future relationship with the EU?
- Does it deliver the "exact same benefits" as we currently have as members of the single market and customs union?
- Does it ensure the fair management of migration in the interests of the economy and communities?
- Does it defend rights and protections and prevent a race to the bottom?
- Does it protect national security and our capacity to tackle cross-border crime?
- Does it deliver for all regions and nations of the UK?
Failure on at least one of these is inevitable and on all six is plausible.
In an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today program, Sir Keir said, "I think it is going to be a very bad deal. I don't think it is going to meet our tests and we shouldn't be voting for a deal which we don't think is in the national interest." He also said, "If Theresa May brings back a deal that fails our tests -- and that looks increasingly likely -- Labour will vote against it. No ifs, no buts.” Best of all, he stated, "We cannot carry on with this idea that the prime minister can bring back any deal that she cobbles together and we must all vote for it however awful it is, because something even worse will happen."
Brexit is a problem for both the Conservatives and Labour as they was internally divided. A great many Conservatives supported Remain (including the Prime Minister) while numerous Labour voters marked the Leave box on their ballots. Sorting out the squabbles within each party has caused the government to appeal inept and the official opposition to fail in exploiting that.
The motion passed reads, "If we cannot get a general election, Labour must support all options remaining on the table, including campaigning for a public vote." Sir Keir went so far as to say that all options included staying in the EU.
It is not too late to stop Brexit. It is not too late to save the United Kingdom from breaking-up over it. It is not too late to retain the peace that Northern Ireland has found in the absence of a border with the Irish Republic. Labour, late but not too late, can still fix things.
© Copyright 2018 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.
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