By Lesley Laird, Labour Shadow Scottish Secretary
IT was billed as Super Saturday, but I can assure you that Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees Mogg are no substitute for Jeff Stelling and Charlie Nicholas.
It was supposed to be the day where Brexit was settled, but that narrative was always false and that ultimatum was never going to be met. Let's be clear about this, voting for this woeful deal would not get Brexit done, it wouldn’t even be the beginning of the end. It would be the end of the beginning.
Ultimately the problem faced by Boris Johnson is the same problem he has faced for his entire career, and is one of his own making – people don’t trust a word that he says.
Just remember that this is a Prime Minister who went to the DUP conference last year and told them that no Prime Minister could ever agree to a deal that treats one part of the UK differently to the others, and then he agreed a deal that treats Northern Ireland differently to the rest of the UK. Boris Johnson claims to be a proud unionist and the Tories claim to be the party of the Union, but this deal undoubtedly proves that they are single handedly becoming the greatest threat to it.
In short, it rules out a close relationship with the EU customs union and single market, risks a no deal Brexit at the end of 2020, threatens workers' rights and protections, and risks future cooperation and participation in EU agencies and programmes.
It is a deal based on a free trade agreement that would push us towards a trade deal with Donald Trump. The Government’s own economic analysis of a free trade deal shows that approach would cost every person in this country over £2000 and I firmly believe that workers would pay the price. It also puts our NHS squarely in the crosshairs of President Trump. After all, the United States have been clear that they believe the NHS is on the table in any future trade negotiations – something that the Labour Party would never support.
The Labour Party is not prepared to sell out the communities and the people we represent, and we are certainly not prepared to sell out their future by voting for a deal negotiated by Boris Johnson of all people.
Days like yesterday will do nothing to restore public confidence in politics. Brexit was a vote born out of disenfranchisement and resentment towards the political system. However if we’ve learned one thing over the past three years it’s that Parliament can’t make up its mind on how to solve this conundrum.
That’s why we need to let the people decide. Circumstances have undoubtedly changed since the vote in 2016. The public and politicians alike have substantially more information available to them and what is now on offer is certainly not what was proposed by the leave campaign in 2016. With that in mind it is only right that the option to remain in the EU is on any future ballot paper.
Whether it comes in the form of a public vote or a General Election, it is increasingly clear that we must let the people of the United Kingdom decide.
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