Outrage over new Labour threat to block Brexit laws
LABOUR was accused of an “assault on democracy” last night after a senior frontbencher stepped up threats to wreck the Government’s Brexit bill.
Shadow EU exit secretary Sir Keir Starmer warned that Labour MPs will side with Tory rebels to block the flagship legislation unless ministers give in to a series of demands.
He insisted that Parliament rather than ministers should have the “final say” on any Brexit deal and called for the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights to be enshrined in British law.
But angry Tory MPs said his demands amounted to an attempt to overturn last year’s Brexit vote.
There is concern that more than a dozen of 300 amendments to the EU Withdrawal Bill tabled by MPs have enough backing from Tory rebels to cause a series of Government defeats.
Tory MP Nigel Evans said: “What Labour is doing is not just an assault on the Government, it is an assault on democracy. It is also an assault on many of Labour’s own voters.
Tory MP James Cleverly said: “Labour are totally confused about what they want Britain’s future relaadministrations.” tionship with the EU to be. That’s because they’re more interested in trying to frustrate Brexit than make it work.”
The EU Withdrawal Bill, which seeks to officially cancel the UK’s membership of the EU and transfer all existing EU regulations on to the British statute book, is seen as crucial to ensuring a smooth departure from the bloc.
Labour had promised to back the measure to ensure the Brexit verdict was respected.
But Sir Keir yesterday set out six demands for his party’s support for the legislation in the Commons. He detailed Labour “red lines” ahead of a statement by Theresa May following last week’s Brussels summit.
The shadow minister wrote: “I believe there is a consensus in Parliament for these changes.
“And there is certainly no majority for weakening rights, silencing Parliament and side-lining devolved His six demands were:
MPs get “final say on whether to approve the withdrawal agreement”.
The expected two-year transition period requested by the Prime Minister is added into the legislation.
A “completely different approach” to the use of “Henry VIII powers”, which the Government argues it needs to make technical changes to regulations repatriated from Brussels, but which Sir Keir described as handing sweeping powers” to ministers.
A guarantee that workers’ and consumer rights, as well as environmental standards, are not watered down.
A concession to the various devolved administrations who want repatriated powers which would normally fall under their remit to go straight to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, rather than first being taken over by Westminster.
Putting the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights – social and political rights not previously signed by the British Government – into UK law.
LAST summer’s EU referendum was an inspirational vote for democratic self-rule. Yet ever since that decision the forces of the Brussels establishment and their Remoaner allies have been determined to thwart the will of the British people.
Now the process of Brexit is threatened by a sinister new pincer movement made up of the European leaders on one side and the Labour Party on the other. We are witnessing the creation of an unholy alliance of federalists and socialists who want to block British freedom at any cost.
Brussels thinks it can achieve this goal by its refusal to negotiate properly and by its demand for an extortionate so-called “divorce” settlement, costing us perhaps as much as £90billion. Labour believes it can undermine Brexit by fomenting chaos and rebellion in Parliament.
For both groups, what matters is the triumph of their ideology and the expansion of their power. United by their disdain for our independence, Jeremy Corbyn’s militant Marxists and Jean-Claude Juncker’s bullying bureaucrats increasingly treat the British people as hostages to be humiliated.
THIS anti-democratic spirit of contempt explains why the negotiations over Britain’s departure have become so fraught. If the EU showed genuine goodwill, an agreement could be reached in a few weeks. After all, such a settlement should not be complicated, given that there is already free trade between Britain and EU member states.
But for Brussels, dogma comes first. The zealots of the EU are indulging in such epic obstruction and financial blackmail because they want to punish us for the heresy of daring to challenge their federalist creed. Moreover, they are obsessed with money because they require vast sums to maintain their sclerotic, selfserving empire.
Their excessive cash demand is driven not by the real needs of European peoples and businesses but by their own spectacular extravagance, vanity and mismanagement. This is an organisation that spends £300million a year shuttling its Parliament between Strasbourg and Brussels, while another £324million goes on maintaining its unwanted network of embassies.
Instead of standing up for our country against this nonsense, Labour is emerging as a co-conspirator with Brussels. At the recent general election Corbyn aimed to retain the support of Leave and Remain voters with his cynical, noncommittal stance on Brexit. But now we can see Labour’s true colours. The party is wrapping itself in the blue and gold flag of Brussels rather than the Union Jack of Great Britain.
Yesterday, shadow brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer made it clear that Labour will side with the arch-Remoaner Tory rebels to frustrate Brexit legislation. In a newspaper article, Sir Keir set out a range of demands on the Government, such as the legal enshrinement of a lengthy transition period.
But there were two conditions which illustrated his subjugation to the Brussels orthodoxy. One was that any EU Repeal Bill “must entrench the Charter of Fundamental rights”. The idea that Britain derives its essential liberties from the EU is a favourite piece of Europhile propaganda, but it is an offensive myth.
Stretching back to Magna Carta in 1215 our country has a far greater tradition of personal freedom, human rights and democracy than most of the European continent, where state oppression and tyranny has too often prevailed.
Even worse was Sir Keir’s insistence that any Brexit deal must be subject to the full approval of Parliament. Given the preponderance of Remoaners at Westminster – particularly in the unelected, unaccountable House of Lords – this is a recipe for paralysis. What happens, as is all too likely, if Parliament throws out a proposed agreement? In such circumstances the EU will hardly offer Britain better terms nor will the Government be able to survive.
That is precisely why Labour is pursuing this course. Corbyn’s party hopes that meltdown at Westminster will pave the way to his accession to Downing Street. That is clearly what many EU figures seem to hope too. Last week, when he visited Brussels, he was given an ecstatic welcome by his fellow socialists.
AS NIGEL Farage said with typical vividness: “Glastonbury comes to Brussels.” Among the EU bosses who Corbyn met was the Parliamentary President Antonio Tajani, who arrogantly described Theresa May’s offer of £20billion for the EU budget as “peanuts”.
This is what the Tory Government is up against but the Brexiteers should not lose heart. The EU-Labour nexus is much weaker than it appears. Brussels is not only plagued by continuing economic problems in the Eurozone, especially indebtedness and mass unemployment, but faces a huge populist backlash against its obsession with abolishing borders and national identities.
Only yesterday the antiEU party led by Andrej Babis proved triumphant in the Czech elections, following the victory by the anti-immigration parties in Austria the week before.
Corbyn is in no position to dictate terms. He has almost 60 fewer Commons seats than the Tories and several of his MPs are pro-Brexit. In addition, any Remoaner alliance with the EU risks alienating Labour’s working-class support.
A great nation like ours should not surrender to the alien doctrines of Marxist socialism and European federalism. Our history proves that we are better than that.
The Government needs to hold its nerve and implement the decision of the British people.
‘Labour wraps itself in the Brussels flag’