Labour must step up to the plate and end Brexit madness
DAVID Davis – gone. Boris Johnson – gone. Theresa May – well, it’s only a matter of time.
What an extraordinary day in British politics we witnessed yesterday.
Even in these turbulent times, where chaos rules, this was a new level of mayhem.
After two of the architects of the Brexit disaster quit and left others to fix the mess, the Prime Minister is now fighting for survival – in office, but not in power.
Her short reign is in its twilight, having been saddled with the impossible task of finding a way through the Brexit mayhem bestowed upon her by David Cameron.
Around the world, Boris’s buffoonery will not be missed.
He should have resigned months ago, not least when he wrongly claimed that British woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was in an Iranian jail after training journalists in the country.
But for him and David Davis to run away now, as the Brexit negotiations reach a critical point, is utter cowardice. Make no mistake, every job lost is still on them.
Yesterday’s chaos was triggered following a Chequers showdown with Theresa May’s dysfunctional Cabinet last week, which produced a political fudge that pleased nobody.
Too soft for the hardline Brexiteers who want to pull up the drawbridge and appear to be perfectly content to destroy jobs, and unacceptable for those of us who actually care about growing the economy.
It’s also been presented as a Brexit “deal”, when it is nothing of the sort. It’s a negotiating position to take to Brussels, that seeks to cherry-pick our future relationship with the EU.
The new Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab will very quickly discover that he has no chips to play when he sits round FIGURES show that more than 930,000 children in Scotland are entitled to child benefit.
That’s how many children would gain from Labour’s policy to top up the benefit by £5 a week, lifting tens of thousands of children out of poverty.
Every time these new statistics come out, it’s a reminder of the difference a Labour government would make.
With each day that passes, a general election feels more likely – as does the chance to give these kids the future they deserve. the table with the other 27 member states.
It doesn’t matter who is selling it, Brussels isn’t going to buy it.
The country deserves so much better. This is Labour’s moment to step up to the plate, and present our party as a government-in-waiting.
My party need to offer the country a clear alternative to the Tory chaos on Brexit.
Talk of a “jobs-first Brexit” must be ditched because it’s nonsense – there is no variation of Brexit that puts jobs first.
It is beyond doubt that the least worst option for our economy is to remain part of the European single market.
Yesterday’s resignations offer us the perfect opportunity to move immediately to this sensible policy position, demonstrating that we are the party with a serious plan, a plan that will be accepted by our allies in Europe and save tens of thousands of jobs here in Scotland and the UK.
Ultimately, however, no option is better than remaining in the EU.
I was pleased that Labour’s Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer confirmed at the weekend that a People’s Vote on the final deal remains on the table. It’s time for Labour to embrace this. We are witnessing the dying days of Theresa May’s premiership.
Who is going to step up and end the Brexit madness?