Jeff Smith and Thangam Debbonaire, plus shadow minister Daniel Zeichner, say they will not back bill to start Brexit process

Two Labour whips have said they will refuse to vote in favour of the article 50 bill, as the Labour frontbencher who resigned on Thursday said she felt her decision to defy the whip was “truly reflecting the will of the people”.

Jeff Smith and Thangam Debbonaire, whose constituencies strongly backed remain in last summer’s referendum, said separately they would not be voting to invoke article 50, which triggers the process of leaving the EU.

Tulip Siddiq, the shadow minister for early years, resigned on Thursday saying she could not vote for the bill. Her Hampstead and Kilburn constituents voted by almost 75% to remain in the EU.

Writing in the Guardian, Siddiq said she had received a torrent of abuse since her resignation, which she said was unfortunate but hardly surprising given the divisiveness of the Brexit vote.

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“That said, it does amaze me that the decision of an MP to represent the will of her constituents is met with disgust from those who have been so adamant for our country and our politicians to ‘take back control’ and to reflect ‘the will of the people’,” she wrote.

“The majority in my constituency that voted for remain far exceeded the national majority for leave. Even that national majority might have looked quite different had our current hard Brexit not been so firmly denied by prominent leave campaigners during the referendum campaign.

“In resigning my frontbench role and fighting Theresa May’s hard Brexit from the backbenches, I believe I am truly reflecting the will of the people – my people.”

The MP, who was elected in 2015 and gave birth to her first child last year, said it had been one of many highly emotional issues for her, with “sleepless nights, cold sweats, recurring nightmares” over votes in the House.

Siddiq said others in the party also had hard decisions to make. “Many of my colleagues have far more divided constituencies than my own,” she said. “I can well imagine how hard their decisions must be too.”

Corbyn has imposed a three-line whip, the strictest form of instruction to attend and vote, on article 50. Smith and Debbonaire’s role as whips is to ensure the party’s MPs vote as the leadership demands.



The shadow transport minister, Daniel Zeichner, has also said he will not vote in line with Corbyn’s instructions. Zeichner said he expected to be sacked from the transport role for defying the order.

Smith, MP for Withington, told the Manchester Evening News: “My constituents voted strongly for remain and I think it’s important to represent their view. I am not convinced that the government has a proper plan for negotiating a deal in the UK’s best interest, and I also think any deal should go back to the country.”

Debbonaire, MP for Bristol West, which returned a remain vote of nearly 80% last June, told the Bristol Post: “I have always said I would be minded to vote against article 50 if it meant leaving the single market or something close to it. And Theresa May has indicated that that is what she wants to do, so I’m minded to vote against.”

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She told the newspaper she understood why Corbyn and the shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, had called for the party to back the triggering of article 50, but said it was not “in the best interests” of Bristol.

“The 25 most leave constituencies and the 25 most remain constituencies are represented by Labour MPs and mine was one of those remainers,” she said. “I need to be mindful of their views but most importantly I’m doing this for the jobs, the industries and knowledge-creation sector that we have in Bristol West in particular.

“The engineering companies, the creative industries and the universities – they have got in touch, in different ways, to tell me they need to be as fully in the single market as possible.”

Zeichner, whose Cambridge constituency also voted for remain, said it had been a “very straightforward decision”.



“It’s my strongly held personal position, and I represent three-quarters of the people of Cambridge,” he told the Cambridge News. “I’ve had perfectly civilised conversations [with the Labour leadership]. They know my position and they understand exactly why I’m doing what I’m doing, and it’s for them to decide what to do next.”

The shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott, defended Corbyn’s stance. She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “You have to remember how this looks to people in post-industrial Britain, former mining areas, the north, the Midlands, south Wales – it would look as if elites were refusing to listen to them.

“It would be wrong. How could MPs vote for a referendum and then turn around and say: it went the wrong way so we are ignoring it?”

Corbyn, who during his time as a backbencher defied the party whip hundreds of times, has said he understands the pressures facing his MPs, many of whom strongly supported the remain cause, but he has urged the party to unite and make sure the legislation goes through the Commons.



He said: “Labour is in the almost unique position of having MPs representing constituencies in both directions, and very strongly in both directions. I say to everyone: unite around the important issues of jobs, security, economy, rights, justice, those issues, and we will frame that relationship with Europe in the future outside the EU, but in concert with friends, whether those countries are outside or inside the EU.”

The shadow business secretary, Clive Lewis, who has previously said May’s plans for Brexit were not in the best interests of his constituents or the country, said he would toe the party line.

“I have been clear throughout that I respect the result of the referendum and will, therefore, join my colleagues in voting for the bill on its second reading,” he said. “However, Theresa May does not have a mandate to dictate the terms of Brexit without listening to the British people.”