Tory Brexit Secretary mocked for having too much time on his hands

YOU might think the UK's Brexit Secretary would be quite busy just now. Particularly given the Tory civil war on the issue.

Well, apparently that'd be wrong – it seems Raab has plenty of free time on his hands.

READ MORE: 'Appalling' secret Tory plot to shut out Scotland in Brexit deal exposed by leak

Because the minister has decided to write to counterpart Keir Starmer calling for clarity on Labour's position over Brexit.

In the letter, he writes: "More than two years on from the referendum, with the right deal within our reach, the vast majority of British people will see that instead of trying to make Brexit a success, Labour are only interested in trying to frustrate the process.

"It's vital that the British people have clarity and honesty from their elected representatives and, as such, it's incumbent on you to answer the following questions, to give people a clear sense of Labour position."

The irony is fairly off the charts here, isn't it? And the right deal being "within our reach" as the EU's chief negotiator says the Chequers deal is dead is an impressive level of delusion.

We're sure everyone would like to see Jeremy Corbyn set out a clear and frank position on Brexit – but this probably isn't the time for wishful thinking, Raab, and it's not Labour delivering Brexit.

Is the Brexit Secretary so desperately out of ideas that he's crowdsourcing ideas from the opposition?

While Starmer has not responded, a Labour source said: "Labour respects the result of the referendum and is not calling for a second referendum. With only weeks of Brexit negotiating time to go and no progress in sight, people would expect Dominic Raab to be getting on with the job of negotiating for Britain, not wasting time writing letters to the opposition."

Raab's five questions are:

1. "Will you respect the result of the referendum and rule out holding a second referendum?"

2. "Will you rule out delaying Brexit and extending Article 50?"

3. "If you propose to delay Brexit by extending Article 50, for how long?"

4. "What would the question be in your proposed second referendum?"

5. "All of this would require, as the original referendum did, legislation approved by both houses. When and how would you legislate for your proposed second referendum?"

Raab should be spending a bit less time asking questions and a bit more answering them, really. For example, what's his solution to the Irish border issue? And will the UK be forcing through its power grab on Holyrood?

Labour's approach would "invite the worst deal", he at last concludes, as we look down the barrel of a devastating no-deal Brexit.

We'd love to hear what your questions would be for the Tory Brexit Secretary...