LABOUR’s shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer has dismissed claims from his party’s shadow international trade secretary that a second EU referendum would cause “civil disobedience” – and said the option should be “on the table”.
Barry Gardiner said days ago that calls for another vote undermined “the whole principle of democracy in this country”. And he warned that voters could turn to “more socially disruptive ways of expressing their views”.
However, Starmer told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he had “never accepted” MPs should support the Brexit deal Theresa May eventually brings back from Brussels “however bad it is”.
READ MORE: Scotland is heading for a ‘no-deal Brexit nightmare’
“It’s not right to say ‘vote for my deal or get no deal’. That’s not a meaningful vote,” he said.
“If that vote is to reject the Article 50 deal then Parliament must decide what happens next and, in my experience, it’s best to keep your options on the table.”
Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington, the Prime Minister’s deputy, has said it remained in the best interests of all parts of the UK to secure a deal with the EU based on the July meeting at Chequers.
But he said the future of the Union would not be jeopardised by a no-deal Brexit, insisting there were “powerful and persuasive” arguments in favour of keeping it together.
Scottish ministers have previously expressed frustration over a lack of involvement in the whole process, with Russell stating their own preparations for all exit possibilities are “constrained by the lack of clarity on the direction of negotiations with the EU”, and “at the mercy of the UK Government” in terms of reserved areas such as aviation and energy.
However, Lidington insisted discussions with the devolved administrations were “constructive and business-like”, with Scottish and Welsh ministers given input into the technical notices.
READ MORE: Brexit Secretary plays down food and medicine shortage fears
He said: “We’ve taken very careful steps to try and identify those areas of no-deal planning where devolved competency is involved.”
In devolved areas such as agricultural policy, he said the technical notices “will actually flag ... this is the responsibility of the Scottish Government, and the Scottish Government is setting out how it proposes to deal with this area of policy in the future”.
“The texts of the TNs certainly went to the devolved governments for comment and in the case of certain technical notices they were amended by us as a result of comments from either Scotland or Wales,” he said.
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