Labour needs to be honest over Brexit

MPs return to Westminster this week to begin debating the most important piece of legislation to come before Parliament in decades. The purpose of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill is to smooth the Brexit process to which the vast majority of MPS have subscribed. The position of the Labour Party was, until recently, clear: leave the EU, the single market and the customs union and negotiate the best deal possible to safeguard business and jobs. That is pretty much the Government’s policy and was the approach adopted by Labour during the general election campaign just a few weeks ago.

But the possibility of inflicting political damage on the Tories is proving hard for Labour to resist. The party now says that the UK should remain in the single market and the customs union at least for a period of transition, and possibly longer.

Labour is not prepared to support the Bill “as it stands” though it is not yet clear whether it will vote against the second reading or wait to ambush the Government during the committee stages. The two likely points of friction will be over the so-called “Henry VIII clauses” which will allow ministers to strike down laws almost by decree; and whether the UK should remain in the customs union. Labour’s manifesto talked about “retaining the benefits” of the single market and the customs union but this has now been hardened into staying as a member of both. Last week, Tom Watson, the party’s deputy leader, said he could see this as a “permanent outcome” for the UK after Brexit, though this has since been disavowed by Sir Keir Starmer, the party’s spokesman.

Labour’s policy is, therefore, confusing – perhaps deliberately so in order to leave the Government vulnerable to defeat in the Commons. But if the Bill falls as a result of this chicanery, it won’t just be the Government that is damaged but the country as well. With the clock ticking on the Brexit negotiations, this legislation is needed to ensure an orderly departure when the two-year process ends, as it must, in March 2019.

Labour needs to be honest with the voters: is the Opposition manoeuvring to stay in the EU in all but name but is unwilling to say so? We have heard a good deal from Sir Keir and other front-benchers but precious little from Jeremy Corbyn. Instead of playing games, perhaps he could spell out exactly what his party’s position on the Bill now is.