WATCH: Barry Gardiner says Labour is trying to 'bail out' the Tories by delivering Brexit
4 min read
Labour is trying to "bail out" the Conservatives by helping the Government deliver Brexit, according to a senior member of the Shadow Cabinet.
Barry Gardiner said the Prime Minister had been forced to seek the opposition's help because she is unable to persuade MPs to back her deal.
But the Shadow International Trade Secretary's comments sparked an angry backlash, with one Labour MP saying "hell would freeze over" before he would back any agreement brokered between his party and the Conservatives.
Negotiations between the Government and opposition on a joint-Brexit deal are set to resume next week, with speculation growing that an agreement could be in the offing.
Speaking on the BBC during a debate with Brexit minister James Cleverly, Mr Gardiner said: "I know you don't want to hear it James, but you as a Brexit minister should understand that we are in there to bail you guys out.
"We are now trying to negotiate with you because your Prime Minister, whose lost control of her party, whose lost any chance of trying to get her deal through Parliament, has had to come to us and say 'please, I now need to listen to the ideas that you've been putting forward about how we can actually get a compromise that will work for most people in this country and will get through our Parliament'.
"That's the truth of it. Don't tell us that we're not trying to deliver Brexit. That was our manifesto commitment and we're trying to do it."
But Labour backbencher Wes Streeting, who backs a second referendum, hit back on Twitter.
The row came as Labour was on course to lose around 100 council seats in the local elections, despite predictions that they would gain around 300.
In a revolt by voters against the main parties over Brexit which has also seen the Tories hammered at the polls, Labour has also lost control of three councils - Bolsover, Hartlepool and Wirral.
Labour chairman Ian Lavery said it was clear that ordinary people wanted MPs to get on with delivering Brexit.
He said: "I think we've gotten a clear message from a lot of these communities, from a lot of these constituencies that the two parties need to get on and get Brexit sorted, and that is the message we are getting from the East Midlands to the West Midlands and North of that as well.
"There has been huge anger about Tory austerity but there is more anger with regards to the fact that this government haven't been able to deliver Brexit as they priomised in the first place, and that has trumped the huge problems being faced by many people in these areas.
"And listen, I share their frustrations. The Labour party, the Tory party all agreed we would be leaving, that we would have a Brexit in line with the 17.4m people who voted for Brexit and that hasn't happened. They're frustrated, they're angry and we will take that on board."
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell echoed those sentiments on Twitter.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "We're the only party that seeks to appeal to people however they voted in 2016 and to ensure that we try to defend jobs and working conditions in this country.
The referendum took place in 2016, Parliament has been unable to agree on where we go from here. That's why there's been an opportunity for us to put out views to the Government. If there's no agreement reached, we will bring it back to Parliament and try to get an agreement there."
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