Labour’s cynical ploy

IF there were any lingering doubts that Labour’s Brexit strategy was driven by base opportunism rather than any desire to serve the national interest, they were firmly dispelled yesterday.

Shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer made clear the party wants to defeat Theresa May’s deal not because it has any coherent alternative, but purely to collapse the Government and force an election.

This is the very height of cynicism. For the truth is that Labour is at least as divided over Brexit as the Tories. Most of its MPs want to stay in the EU, while its leaders are staunch Brexiteers.

And they still can’t decide whether they want a second referendum or not, or what the question might be.

Yet despite this policy vacuum, some polls suggest that if an election were called, Labour could form a government with the SNP.

If that grotesque prospect doesn’t dissuade wavering Tory MPs from voting against the May deal, nothing will.