Vassalage or chaos is no choice at all, we agree – but that’s where Labour unity on Brexit ends

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Theresa May’s weekend got off to a bad start when Jo Johnson quit as rail minister over her Brexit deal. In quitting, the Remainer described the withdrawal agreement in its current shape as a “a terrible mistake”. He says, as Labour has been arguing, that the choice being offered is a false one: between a bad deal and no deal, “vassalage and chaos”. “If these negotiations have achieved little else, they have at least united us in fraternal dismay,” Johnson wrote of his brother Boris in a Medium blog post (because apparently that is how ministers announce resignations now). Being the second Johnson brother to quit the frontbench over the state of the Brexit negotiations was not just poetic, but served to highlight a crucial fact – it now looks almost impossible for May to get her deal through the Commons. The Prime Minister has united not just the Johnsons in “fraternal dismay”, but Remainer Labour MPs, traditional Eurosceptics on the left, Remainer Tories, Brexiteer Tories, the Lib Dems and the DUP against her in cross-party dismay.

The consensus is that May now has 48 hours to strike a deal. Many of her cabinet ministers, from both ends of the Brexit spectrum, have never liked the proposals, and still have pressing questions. More resignations could be on their way. And yet, while all focus should be on these government struggles, the Labour Party’s own differences are dominating the news cycle. After a few weeks of ‘where’s Jeremy Corbyn’ comments, the Labour leader gave an interview to Der Spiegel that kicked off another row. “If you could stop Brexit, would you?” the lifelong Eurosceptic was asked. “We can’t stop it,” Corbyn replied. “The referendum took place. Article 50 has been triggered. What we can do is recognize the reasons why people voted Leave.” Asked later by Channel 4 whether he’d ever agree with Johnson’s call for another Brexit referendum, Corbyn stated bluntly: “Not really, no.”

Labour activists who took the composite motion agreed by Labour conference at face value are furious. In September, the party said it would “support all options remaining on the table, including campaigning for a public vote” should the opposition not be able to force a general election. In his keynote conference speech, Keir Starmer even added the line “nobody is ruling out ‘remain’ as an option”, not pre-released, for which he received a standing ovation. Predictably, doing the media rounds this morning, the shadow Brexit secretary directly disagreed with the Labour leader and said Brexit can in fact be stopped.

The plain truth is that Corbyn has not changed his views on Brexit, and neither has Starmer, regardless of whatever compromise a very long compositing meeting in Liverpool came up with. The vast majority of party members support Starmer’s stance, and would urge him to go even further to reach a more strongly Remain position. But a majority of Labour members also support Corbyn and voted him in twice. And the leadership – though it maintains that “all options are on the table” – has never wavered from the belief that the mood of the country isn’t favourable to another referendum, that a public vote now would undermine faith in our democratic processes and in our political class to actually get things done, that a ‘people’s vote’ is both ill-fated and undesirable. We may all agree that the Prime Minister’s deal will be a “terrible mistake” – but whether to oppose Brexit altogether is not something on which Labour has ever or will ever be able to reach consensus.

Sienna @siennamarla

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