John McDonnell says his party is walking a tightrope as it seeks ‘traditional British compromise’ on issue

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Labour MPs are expected to split three ways in a fractious vote over whether to back a Norway-style Brexit deal, with the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, saying his party is walking a tightrope with its Brexit position.

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Speaking at an event before the vote, McDonnell said his party’s position was a “traditional British compromise” to try to appeal to leave and remain voters.

Jeremy Corbyn is expected to whip his MPs to abstain when a House of Lords amendment to the EU withdrawal bill, aimed at keeping open the option of EEA membership, is voted on in the Commons on Wednesday.

Members of the EEA, which include Norway and Liechtenstein, accept the constraints of the single market – including EU regulations and free movement – without having a seat at the table in Brussels.

A vocal group of rebel backbenchers, including Chuka Umunna and Stephen Kinnock, have been urging colleagues to support the amendment, believing it is the best off-the-shelf alternative to full EU membership.

About 80 MPs are expected to rebel, sources said, with some junior shadow ministers believed to be mulling supporting the amendment.

A Labour spokesman said any shadow minister that voted against the whip would risk losing their job. “Labour will be whipping the vote and any action afterwards will be dealt with by the whips in consultation with the leader of the party,” the spokesman said.

“We’ve made very clear what our position is on the EEA amendment and Jeremy spelt that out. What happens [afterwards] depends on the circumstances but frontbenchers are expected to support the whip. There has been a clear drive to make sure the whip is respected by members of the frontbench.”

Labour’s sister party in Northern Ireland, the SDLP, emailed all Labour MPs urging them to back the EEA amendment.

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“While membership of the EEA is not the SDLP’s ideal position, the adoption of this amendment will allow for the necessary alignment with the single market, which is fundamental to preventing a hard border on the island of Ireland,” the letter reads.

However, some MPs from pro-Brexit constituencies reject EEA membership, because they fear the signal it will send to voters. MPs such as Gloria De Piero, Gareth Snell and Caroline Flint have warned they would not support the party if it decided to back the amendment.

The shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, has tabled a compromise amendment, which says the government should seek full access to the EU’s internal market.

The government is expected to comfortably defeat all of the remaining Lords amendments in the Commons on Wednesday. A rebellion of Tory MPs over an amendment to give parliament a meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal was averted in the final moments of the debate on Tuesday after Theresa May promised a compromise deal.

McDonnell said the past 24 hours have been “shaming for the politicians involved” and said he was deeply concerned about the progress of the negotiations.

He acknowledged his party’s own difficulties on the issue, however. “We are walking on a tightrope at the moment,” he said. “We campaigned for remain but many of our MPs, including myself, now represent seats which voted heavily leave.”

“We are trying to construct at the moment a traditional British compromise and we are trying to drag as many with us as possible both in government and elsewhere around some key elements of that compromise,” he said.