Labour Party MPs will mostly get free votes in today’s House of Commons votes on a series of alternative Brexit plans, but are likely to be whipped to vote against a no-deal scenario or revoking Article 50.
It will be “inevitable” that Labour MPs will get a free vote on most of today’s indicative votes, but not on those that are “clearly against Labour’s policy,” the party’s Shadow International Trade Secretary Barry Gardiner told the BBC’s Today program this morning. “So I think one would rule out no-deal on one end and one would possibly rule out revocation of Article 50.”
Pressed on whether Labour would really vote to rule out revoking the U.K.’s Brexit notification, Gardiner said “I think yes. I think we have committed ourselves to try to deliver the referendum result, to deliver that we leave the European Union, but to do so in a way that actually does not destroy the economy.”
Asked how Labour MPs would vote if the choice came down to either supporting a no-deal Brexit or revoking Article 50, Gardiner said: “Well, yes that would be a very tough one indeed. But I think that’s why the parliament should try to rule out those extreme options. I think we do have a duty to honor the referendum result, to work our way through.”
He added: “We would support a public vote to stop no-deal or to stop a bad deal, but not that we would allow a bad deal as long as the public had the opportunity to reject Brexit altogether. You see that implies that you’re a Remain party. The Labour Party is not a Remain party now. We’ve accepted the result of the referendum, and we’re trying to get a good deal.”