WHOOPS! Abbott blasts Tories' mixed Brexit message despite Labour's CLEAR AS MUD approach
DIANE ABBOTT was put on the spot over the Labour Party’s “clear as mud” Brexit approach after calling out the Conservatives for delivering mixed messages about the European Union divorce.
The shadow home secretary said the Government had been “talking out of both sides of their mouths” after Brexit Secretary David Davis said the UK-EU agreement was merely a “statement of intent” rather than a full-fledged deal.
Discussing the agreement, which included answers on Irish border, divorce bill and EU citizens’ rights, Mr Davis said: “This was a statement of intent more than anything else.
“Much more a statement of intent than it was a legally enforceable thing.”
Speaking to BBC News, Ms Abbott said: “This is the problem, on the one hand this new system looks an improvement.
“But, what the Government cannot do is talk out of both sides of their mouths – say one thing to one audience and say another thing to another audience.”
BBC
Speaking out of both sides of one’s mouth, isn’t that precisely what Labour is doing?
The shadow home secretary’s comments, however, attracted a stern line of questioning from the BBC News host.
He said: “Speaking out of both sides of one’s mouth, isn’t that precisely what Labour is doing on the status of the single market and Britain’s relationship with it after Brexit?
“I mean, we had the shadow chancellor John McDonnell saying he stands by his assertion that remaining inside the single market under current rules, which would include accepting free movement of EU citizens, would not respect the Brexit referendum result.
“Yet, Keir Starmer says that Labour would seek to remain aligned with EU rules to ensure the UK could retain the benefits of single market membership.
“It’s confusing, it’s clear as mud.”
Ms Abbott insisted it wasn’t confusing at all, adding: “We’ve always said that we don’t want to take anything off of the table.
“We’ve always said we want access to the single market and we want all the benefits that come with the customs union.”
The Labour Party has seemingly been at their colleagues' throats after displaying considerable inconsistencies in the party’s Brexit plans.
Speaking during a July interview with Andrew Marr, Jeremy Corbyn said it was impossible for the UK to be in the EU’s single market while not a member of the bloc.
He said: “The single market is dependent on membership of the EU. The two things are inextricably linked.”
Mr Corbyn even sacked three members of the shadow cabinet for defying him over a key Brexit vote.
Three shadow ministers were sacked and at least one resigned after they joined 49 MPs who supported a rebel amendment to the Queen’s Speech, in June, calling for Britain to stay in the single market and customs union.
And now, the party’s shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer urged the Government to put access to the customs union and single market “back on the table” after a failed attempt to strike up a deal for the Irish border.
Sir Keir told the Commons, on Wednesday, December 8, the Government was an “embarrassment” to Britain after the DUP refused to back a possible Brexit deal due to reservations about the Irish border arrangement.
He said: "Will the Prime Minister now rethink her reckless red lines and put options such as a customs union and the single market back on the table for negotiation?
"Because if the price of the Prime Minister's approach is the break-up of the Union and reopening a bitter divide in Northern Ireland, then the price is too high."
A party spokesman later said: “We want a final deal that retains the benefits of the Customs Union and the Single Market.
"Options for achieving the benefits of the Customs Union should not be swept off the table. Labour is flexible as to whether the benefits of the Single Market are best retained by negotiating a new relationship with the Single Market or by a bespoke trade deal.”
