Monday 16 Apr 2018 @ 13:15
Open Europe
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What to make of Labour’s Brexit tests?

Following comments by Labour's Barry Gardiner that it is not possible to achieve the "exact same benefits" as part of a future UK-EU deal, Open Europe's Henry Newman assesses the politics of the Opposition's Brexit tests.

An exchange by the Shadow Trade Secretary on Question Time last week leaves a core strand of Labour’s Brexit policy in question.

I wrote previously about Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry’s comments that the Labour Party would vote yes to the “meaningful vote” on the Brexit deal in October (?) even if – as she expected – the Government brought back a “blah blah blah divorce”. Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer insisted that Labour’s six tests were serious, but since then a tape has emerged of Shadow Trade Secretary Barry Gardiner speaking at a meeting in Brussels. Much attention focused on Gardiner’s dismissal of the Good Friday Agreement as a Shibboleth, but Gardiner also called Labour’s tests“bollocks”, rather endorsing Thornberry’s earlier remarks. Last night Gardiner appeared on Question Time and was quizzed about his words.

See Open Europe’s website for full article

 

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Original article link: https://openeurope.org.uk/today/blog/what-to-make-of-labours-brexit-tests/

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