Didn't Labour repeatedly vote against the Brexit treaties done by Theresa May? What makes this one different enough to consider abstaining, let alone supporting it?
Did Johnson give Starmer a seat at the table and negotiate it with Labour jointly?
If anything, Labour should vote no to a Tory brexit? (Regardless of whether Johnson or May is PM)
It’s pure political posturing. Labour doesn’t want to revive the Brexit debate, that’s why it won’t vote against. But, at the same time, it doesn’t want to share the blame for the consequences of Brexit, so the logical option is to abstain.
The argument to vote for it is basically to make an even stronger “We want to move on from Brexit” statement. Which, in my opinion, isn’t very smart, because even if you look more resolute on Brexit, you’re going to generate unnecessary controversy and have a lot of Remain MPs rebelling, making the party look divided. Also, as I said before, Labour would share the blame with the Tories for the economic damage of the withdrawal.
