Campaign news

Tory Brexit

9th February 2017

Tory Brexit

Here is a summary of the amendments Labour submitted to the Bill to implement Article 50.The summaries are taken from LabourPress.
All these amendments were defeated.

The House of Commons with a Tory majority has voted against:
• Protecting workers’ rights
• Securing free access to the Single Market
• Ensuring democratic scrutiny of the Brexit process by the House of Commons
• Giving the House of Commons a final say on the deal. The House of Commons has to vote in favour of the Tory deal or no deal
• Guaranteeing the rights of EU nationals living in the UK
• Consulting with the devolved administrations in the UK
• Publishing impact assessments of new trading relationships with the EU
• Retaining existing tax avoidance and tax evasion measures.

A Tory Brexit could mean:
• Trashing workers’ rights
• Turning the UK into a bargain basement tax haven
• Using EU nationals in the UK as hostages during negotiations
• Being kept in the dark during negotiations
• Not having the faintest idea what the final terms are likely to be and no say when the deal is cut.

This could be the meaning of a Tory Brexit. This is the beginning of a long fight to make sure Brexit is not used to turn Britain into a low tax, low wage economy, home to oligarchs and fly-by-night big business barons, where workers’ rights and living standards come last.

From LabourPress
Labour’s amendments would:
i) Allow a meaningful vote in Parliament on the final Brexit deal. Labour’s amendment would ensure that the House of Commons has the first say on any proposed deal and that the consent of Parliament would be required before the deal is referred to the European Council and Parliament.
ii) Establish a number of key principles the Government must seek to negotiate during the process, including protecting workers’ rights, securing full tariff and impediment free access to the Single Market.
iii) Ensure there is robust and regular Parliamentary scrutiny by requiring the Secretary of State to report to the House at least every two months on the progress being made on negotiations throughout the Brexit process
iv) Guarantee legal rights for EU nationals living in the UK. Labour has repeatedly called for the Government to take this step, and this amendment would ensure EU citizens’ rights are not part of the Brexit negotiations.
v) Require the Government to consult regularly with the governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland throughout Brexit negotiations. Labour’s amendment would put the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) on a statutory footing and require the UK Government to consult the JMC at least every two months.
vi) Require the Government to publish impact assessments conducted since the referendum of any new proposed trading relationship with the EU. This amendment seeks to ensure there is much greater clarity on the likely impact of the Government’s decision to exit the Single Market and seek new relationship with the Customs Union
vii) Ensure the Government must seek to retain all existing EU tax avoidance and evasion measures post-Brexit

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