Leading politicians in the Labour Party, still reeling from their worst election result since 1935, have voiced their dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit withdrawal agreement ahead of the vote on the bill's second reading in the House of Commons on Friday afternoon
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th December, 2019) Leading politicians in the Labour Party, still reeling from their worst election result since 1935, have voiced their dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit withdrawal agreement ahead of the vote on the bill's second reading in the House of Commons on Friday afternoon.
On Friday morning, Johnson presented his Brexit withdrawal agreement to the House of Commons, urging politicians to unite and pass the bill on its second reading. If the Commons approves, Johnson would have the green light to make a deal with the European Union before the January 31 deadline.
Defeated Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn stressed that the party could not support the agreement, saying that a number of provisions regarding workers' rights and the United Kingdom's acceptance of child refugees have been withdrawn from the bill following the Tories' election victory.
"We warned before the general election, the prime minister's Brexit deal was a terrible deal for our country and we still believe it's a terrible deal today," Corbyn told the Commons.
In particular, Johnson's new Brexit withdrawal agreement appears to have dropped a provision that outlined that unaccompanied children who have made claims for international protection in a EU member state can travel to the United Kingdom to join a relative.
"I want to make it clear that I see the government's removal of the protections in this bill for unaccompanied children seeking asylum as nothing sort of an absolute disgrace and a piece of dishonesty," Corbyn stated.
Issues regarding workers' rights have also been postponed for a separate bill. However, Thursday's Queen's Speech will severely inhibit transport unions from striking.
"The prime minister, your leader, if I may say so Mr. Speaker, said workers' rights were going to be protected. They are not in this bill," Corbyn said in response to a question to Conservative politician Mark Francois.
Labour's concerns toward Johnson's Brexit withdrawal agreement were made public by Lisa Nandy on Thursday evening. The Labour politician for Wigan slammed the bill in a series of tweets, arguing that provisions protecting workers' rights, environmental protection and child refugees had been removed. Nandy, reportedly one of the frontrunners in the Labour leadership race, also criticized the government's proposals to conduct trade deals in secret, without consulting the Commons.
The Labour Party is seeking to rebuild itself as a credible opposition party following last week's historic election defeat. The party lost 59 seats, many of them in Constituencies that have voted Labour for generations. Many, including former Prime Minister Tony Blair, have blamed the defeat on the party's inconsistent policy on Brexit.
The House of Commons will vote on the second reading of Boris Johnson's Brexit withdrawal agreement at approximately 14:30 GMT. While Labour and the Scottish National Party have publicly stated that they oppose the deal, Johnson's bill is expected to pass given the Conservative majority in the Commons after last week's general election.
