As Boris Johnson celebrates his Brexit deal in the Commons chamber, it’s Sir Keir Starmer who has had the more difficult task today in responding to the Prime Minister. As Tory Brexiteers line up to praise Johnson’s work – with Bill Cash comparing him to Pericles and Alexander the Great – the Labour leader had to use his turn at the despatch box to explain why his party was (a) backing the deal (b) critical of the deal regardless.
Giving his reasons for instructing his party to back the deal, Starmer said it was the responsible thing to do – arguing that ‘those voting no today, want yes: they want others to save them from their own vote’. He said that while the deal was thin, it was the only deal available and that was enough reason to back it: ‘it’s imperfect, it’s thin, and it’s the consequences of the Prime Minister’s political choices.
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