Parliament will extend Article 50 rather than choose between May’s deal and No Deal, says Starmer

Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer told The Today Show this morning that parliament will choose to extend article 50 rather than voting for Theresa May’s deal or allowing the UK to exit without a deal.

ITV News reported last night that Theresa May’s brexit negotiator Olly Robbins was overheard in a Brussels hotel bar predicting that MPs will be faced with a choice between voting for May’s deal and delaying Brexit.

The Today Show’s presenter Justin Webb interpreted the choice differently, asking Starmer: “If it gets to the end of March, you would, wouldn’t you, vote for her deal rather than no deal?”

Starmer said that he didn’t think it would get to that stage and added: “Everything we are doing at the moment is a determined effort to ensure that we don’t get to that place…I think at that stage, there would be a concerted effort to force the Prime Minister to seek an extension of Article 50 and I think that would get a majority in the house.”

Shadow Brexit secretary @Keir_Starmer: The prime minister’s actions are “brinkmanship” and if the UK is headed for a no deal near the Brexit date, a “concerted effort” to get an extension would pass Parliament #r4today | @justinonweb | https://t.co/WZT8tLDGCY pic.twitter.com/hgIokWLDxF

— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) February 13, 2019