Labour front benchers are still refusing to say whether they will back any Government Brexit deal despite a union boss urging them to vote for one.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, the shadow home secretary, refused to say which way the party would go if Boris Johnson secured a trade deal with the EU and put it to a Commons vote. He would not rule out abstaining, despite saying that “we absolutely need to get a deal”.
“We all know what the consequences of no deal would be for the country, both in terms of jobs and livelihoods all across the United Kingdom but also in terms of that security partnership that we need to access the databases, the operation of international warrants, that allow us to keep our people safe,” Mr Thomas-Symonds told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday.
“So absolutely first of all we need to get a deal and that’s the strong message. In terms of our position on any deal, clearly we need to see what has been agreed.”
Asked whether Labour abstaining was still on the table, he said: “When you get any particular vote that you get before Parliament there are options that there always are, that is absolutely the case. But what I’m saying is that the responsible thing is that first of all we need to get a deal, then consider what has been agreed but then to consider what is actually going to be put before Parliament.”
Last week, Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, suggested he was willing to back a deal secured by the Prime Minister rather than see the UK leave the jurisdiction of the EU without a trade deal on December 31. He said: “If the choice is a deal or no-deal, then a deal is obviously in the national interest.”
It came after he was warned by the shadow business minister, Lucy Powell, that refusing to back a Brexit trade deal would be akin to “sticking two fingers up to voters”. She suggested Labour would struggle to win back voters in “Red Wall” seats if it attempted to abstain.
However, Anneliese Dodds, the shadow chancellor, Emily Thornberry, the shadow trade secretary and David Lammy, the shadow justice secretary, are all believed to be of the thinking that Labour should abstain as a way to avoid being blamed for any economic fallout.
On Sunday Len McCluskey, the general secretary of the Unite Union, urged Labour to back a post-Brexit trade deal if one is agreed, saying: “In my opinion, let’s get Brexit done and out of the way. Of course it won’t stop us being critical if needed.”
Mr McCluskey told Times Radio that “everybody wants Brexit done, and the quicker we get it out of the way the better”, adding: “The uncertainty that exists is damaging all of the major companies that I deal with.”