A mistake for Labour to support Brexit deal regardless - YEP letters

IF Boris Johnson returns from his Brussels dash with a Brexit deal then hopefully Labour MPs in the ‘Remain’ voting city of Leeds will not feel obliged to support it.

Anything that emerges from negotiations at this late stage – while better than nothing – is going to be bad for Britain.

With much room for improvement. And yet it has been reported that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer might whip his MPs into supporting any deal regardless.

Hopefully, Sir Keir learnt enough while a student at Leeds University to understand why this would be a bad idea.

It would probably be a mistake to vote against Johnson’s deal.

Labour’s votes, in alliance with the Tories’ own MPs, might be enough to kill a deal – forcing an even more catastrophic No-Deal Brexit.

But if Labour simply abstains, Mr Johnson will have enough support from his own party to limp a deal over the line. He would then be left to answer for the consequences, while denied an undeserved “backed by Labour” fig leaf.

According to YouGov’s latest findings, 64 per cent think the Government has handled Brexit badly and only 23 per cent well (13 per cent don’t know).

By meekly following most Conservative MPs through the House of Commons’ voting lobbies Labour would be needlessly tainting themselves by association with this failure.

The large number of unconvinced voters suggest that the country is crying out for a different, better strategy from the opposition.

If denied Labour support, Mr Johnson might think up another childish nickname for Sir Keir. But the era of the Trump-like politicians is hopefully waning. Along with support for Brexit.