Labour given a boost as Rudd says parliament would not allow ‘no deal’ Brexit

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On Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, Amber Rudd accidentally committed news. “It is my view that parliament, the House of Commons, will stop ‘no deal’… There isn’t a majority in the House of Commons to allow that to take place,” she said. Just a few days into her new job in the cabinet, having taken the difficult post of Work and Pensions Secretary to help out her ally the Prime Minister, Rudd has just blown apart Theresa May’s Brexit strategy. Labour has immediately leapt on the story, of course. “Amber Rudd seems to have ignored Number 10’s spin by admitting that parliament would stop a no deal Brexit,” Keir Starmer responded. “If the Prime Minister’s deal is rejected then MPs will not sit back and allow us to crash out of the EU without an agreement. Parliament will take back control.”

Instead of helping to woo Tory Remainers and waverers on the Labour benches, Rudd warned that “Brexiters could lose their Brexit”. So are members of the ERG more persuadable and easy to scare? Perhaps Downing Street has decided to give up on the pro-EU parliamentarians now that Labour looks confident about forcing amendments designed to block no-deal as an option. Regardless, it’s clear Theresa May no longer has the votes to drive through her plans. The government last night accepted all Labour amendments to the Finance Bill, representing a major victory for the opposition party. John McDonnell described the events as “staggering”, and there’s no doubt it strengthens Labour’s favourite tagline: “The Tories are in office but not in power.”

Today we’re celebrating the centenary of the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act, which gave women aged over 21 the right to become MPs. It’s extraordinary to think that legislation at that time allowed women under 30 like me to stand in a parliamentary election but not to vote in one. And let’s keep in mind that since 21st November 1918, only 500 women have taken their places in the Commons, compared to over 4,500 men.

Dawn Butler rightly says we must keep striving for progress in an article for LabourList today, in which the women and equalities spokesperson calls on the government to implement Section 106 of the Equality Act 2010. Penny Mordaunt has resisted the demand so far – apparently the Tories say it would be an excessive ‘burden’ for political parties to be required to publish the demographic makeup of their candidates. It wouldn’t be that they’re worried about potentially embarrassing results… This issue may be worth keeping an eye on: Butler says Labour is ready to work on a cross-party basis to put Section 106 into action.

Sienna @siennamarla

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