Shadow Cabinet member says Labour would 'very strongly' consider revoking Article 50 to avoid no-deal Brexit
2 min read
Labour frontbencher Rebecca Long-Bailey has said Labour would consider revoking Article 50 to avoid a no-deal Brexit.
The Shadow Business Secretary said her party would do “all we can to avoid a no-deal” as the deadline for the UK’s exit draws nearer.
It comes after Theresa May “reluctantly” wrote to EU Council President Donald Tusk requesting a further extension until 30 June.
Talks between Labour negotiators and the Government to find a compromise deal which could be supported by MPs have remained deadlocked after three days of discussions.
But speaking to the BBC’s Andrew Marr, Ms Long-Bailey suggested her party could vote to revoke Article 50 to avoid the "financial impact" of a no-deal exit.
“Well of course we don’t want no-deal because we think it would be extremely damaging for our economy”, she said.
“Various manufacturing organisations have shown us the financial impact that no-deal would have on their businesses and it would cause widespread damage and job losses across industry, so we want to avoid that in any situation.”
She added that it was a “hypothetical position” but that her party would do “all we can to avoid a no-deal”.
“We will keep all options in pay to keep a no-deal off the table, and we will have to remember that if we get to a situation where Parliament has to look at revoking Article 50 that will be disappointing and it will be as a result of the crisis the government has caused unfortunately,” she added.
“But it will be a matter we will consider very carefully at the time, but we have promised our party members and our constituents that we will do all we can to avoid a no-deal situation and it is something we would consider very very strongly.”
The comments come after 80 Labour MPs demanded a public vote on any compromise Brexit deal.
The group, including 10 shadow ministers said Labour’s position would be “untenable” if they backed any compromise deal which did not include a confirmatory vote.
Meanwhile speaking to Sky’s Sophie Ridge, Labour frontbencher Shami Chakrabarti said she thought it was “almost impossible” that Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn could strike a deal that didn’t lead to a general election or second referendum.
She said: “It’s been left so late in the day that it’s hard to imagine that we’re going to make real progress now without either a general election or a second referendum on any deal that she can get over the line in parliament and it has to be got over the line in parliament.”
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
