Labour lines up argument for backing Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal
Labour’s leadership is seeking to head off a new party split over Brexit by arguing any EU-UK trade deal will present Britain with the opportunity to work with Brussels to implement higher standards on workers rights and the environment.
Keir Starmer, Labour leader, wants to back a Brexit deal to try to win back Eurosceptic voters in “red wall” seats, which were lost to the Conservatives in last year’s general election. The alternative, he has repeatedly argued, would be to risk the economic damage of a no-deal Brexit.
That position has prompted a backlash among many pro-EU party members, MPs and shadow ministers who believe the party should abstain on what they say is likely to be a “wafer-thin” free trade agreement. Some junior frontbenchers are privately threaten...