Remainers unite! MPs lash out at ‘unmitigated disaster’ of Brexit and urge Starmer to get closer with ‘reset’ in Commons debate over petition to rejoin the EU_Nhy
Remainer MPs lashed out at the ‘disaster’ of Brexit as they debated a petition supporting the UK rejoining the EU.
Labour and Lib Dem politicians last night urged Sir Keir Starmer to get Britain back into a much-closer relationship with Brussels under his planned ‘reset’, with some setting their sights on rejoining.
Stella Creasy, the former shadow minister, lashed out at Nigel Farage and other Brexiteers, likening them to those who get kicked out of nightclubs for fighting, insist they know a better club elsewhere but can never find it.
‘Brexit is a disaster. It’s a disaster by anybody’s metric, not least those who purported that this was somehow the hallowed land,’ she said.
‘The brutal reality is that we have left the European Union, and we owe it to people who care about this country – I think everybody in this Chamber does, even if they still purport to believe that Brexit was a good idea – to talk truths to our constituents and work out what we can do to salvage what is left.’
Fellow Labour MP Tim Roca, who represents Macclesfield, added: ‘I still wholeheartedly believe in us rejoining the European Union – that is our future – and debates like this are part of that process.
‘People need be under no illusion that this issue is going away. As the petitioners and those supporting them prove, this debate is ongoing in the country.
‘There is also strong support, as the polling evidence shows, that the public believe that we made a mistake.’
Labour MP Tim Roca, who represents Macclesfield, added: ‘I still wholeheartedly believe in us rejoining the European Union – that is our future – and debates like this are part of that process’
Former shadow minister Stella Creasy said the UK owed Brussels ‘respect’
The petition, which was debated after achieving more than 133,000 signatures, states: ‘I believe joining the EU would boost the economy, increase global influence, improve collaboration and provide stability and freedom’
The petition, which was debated after achieving more than 133,000 signatures, states: ‘I believe joining the EU would boost the economy, increase global influence, improve collaboration and provide stability & freedom.
‘I believe that Brexit hasn’t brought any tangible benefit and there is no future prospect of any, that the UK has changed its mind and that this should be recognised.’
Sir Keir Starmer has been at pains to repeatedly say that the Uk will not rejoin the customs union or single market as part of his reset.
Independent MP for Canterbury Rosie Duffield said the petition was ‘still significant’ for gathering 134,370 signatures, in comparison to more than three million signatures on an e-petition calling for another general election.
The former Labour MP said current Labour cabinet members led group meetings ‘several times a day’ during the passage of Brexit legislation to campaign against the ‘damage we foresaw Brexit causing to our national security, economy and place in the world’.
Intervening, Labour MP Fred Thomas (Plymouth Moor View) said: ‘I understand that while we can all agree that Brexit has been an almost unmitigated disaster, the Labour Party manifesto said that we will not go back into the EU, the customs union or the single market.
Rosie Duffield MP said current Labour Cabinet members led group meetings ‘several times a day’ during the passage of Brexit legislation to campaign against the ‘damage we foresaw Brexit causing to our national security, economy and place in the world’
Not for turning: Sir Keir Starmer has been at pains to repeatedly say the UK will not rejoin the Customs Union or Single Market as part of his reset
‘That’s a Labour Party manifesto that I stood on, that all of us over here stood on, you talk about leadership, do you agree it’s important that politicians honour the manifesto they stood on?’
Ms Duffield replied: ‘There are plenty of things that the Labour Government seem to be putting through that were not in the manifesto and the people now in charge were in fact campaigning with those of us that are still here several years ago so I’d like them to stick to that.’
However, Brexiteer MPs took part in the debate to break the ‘cosy consensus’.
Traditional Unionist Vote MP Jim Allister said it had been an ‘echo chamber for the laments of two or three dozen Europhile MPs’.
‘This petition is notable in its arrogance. It does not even say, “Well, let’s have another referendum”.
‘No, in its arrogance, it demands that we simply rejoin the EU, which the British people decided democratically to leave. I know that is an uncomfortable fact, but that is the core issue.’
