‘Corbyn’s cynical betrayal risks Commons chaos’
JEREMY Corbyn was accused of ‘betraying his own voters’ last night after he vowed to oppose the legislation needed to deliver Brexit.
In a move branded a ‘cynical’ and ‘reckless’ betrayal, the Labour leader yesterday ordered his MPs to vote against the Great Repeal Bill, which is designed to smooth Britain’s exit from the EU.
The new law, now known as the EU Withdrawal Bill, begins its passage through Parliament tomorrow, with MPs due to hold their first vote on Monday.
Labour, which had claimed to respect the referendum result in its manifesto, had been expected to abstain. On Sunday, Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer denied Labour would oppose the legislation outright, saying: ‘We haven’t reached that stage yet.’
But the Shadow Cabinet yesterday approved a decision to try to wreck the legislation completely – even though this would leave the UK in a ‘legal vacuum’ after Brexit, and a chaotic exit from the EU. Brexit Secre- tary David Davis last night accused Labour of ‘betraying their own voters’.
He told MPs: ‘Their voters more than anyone else want to leave... They will have to face their constituents on that – their constituents voted to leave.
‘This is a practical Bill designed to protect the interests of British businesses and individuals. It should not be a matter of politics – it is a matter of the national interest.’
Leading Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash said Labour had ‘moved from being Remainers to being Reversers’.
Fellow Tory Luke Hall said: ‘This is the Bill that gives effect to the referendum result by ending the supremacy of the EU over British law. This reckless threat to vote against the Bill, without presenting any alternative approach, risks defying the result of the referendum, and risks the most chaotic of Brexit scenarios – where our legal systems and institutions cannot function from day one of our exit.’
The legislation repeals the European Communities Act 1972, which enshrines the supremacy of EU law. But it also transfers thousands of EU regulations passed over the past 40 years into British law so that they continue to operate on the day after we leave in March 2019.
Mr Corbyn was last night facing the prospect of a rebellion by Eurosceptic Labour MPs and others representing constituencies that voted heavily to leave the EU.
Former minister Kate Hoey said the EU Withdrawal Bill was a piece of ‘absolutely crucial legislation in order for us to leave the EU’. She added: ‘Anyone who votes against the principle is really betraying the will of the British people’.
Another former Labour minister Caroline Flint also warned her party against ‘wrecking for wrecking’s sake’, saying it was clear that some colleagues were trying to ‘delay the inevitable’.