With reports of a Brexit deal “days away” and the UK’s chief negotiator claiming there could be an agreement with the European Union in the next week, all eyes turn to parliament to find out how it might vote.
David Frost is reported to have told the prime minister there would be a “possible landing zone” for an agreement as soon as next Tuesday, after likely opponents in the form of key Vote Leave officials resigned from Downing Street.
Labour is now being encouraged to vote against such a deal, despite its insistence, it wants to see Brexit resolved with an agreement with the European Union, and ministers claiming it would not frustrate the process.
Commentator Zoe Williams told the Guardian that Starmer’s position must be honest with voters about the impact of Brexit.
She said: “For Labour to vote in favour of a deal with the EU as negotiated by Johnson would be to chase yesterday’s polls, and accept the Conservatives’ version of authenticity, which is corrosive to its own.
“If it abstains, it makes itself irrelevant – not just in the moment, but in any future critique. There is no clever answer to a future vote on a Brexit deal, but that is perversely liberating. When you can’t be clever, all you can be is truthful. The honest course would be to vote against the government.”
But voting against such a deal could put at risk a no-deal Brexit if it does not win the support of all of Johnson’s backbenchers, despite an 80-strong majority.
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