View all newsletters
Sign up to our newsletters

Support 110 years of independent journalism.

  1. Politics
  2. Brexit
9 February 2018updated 24 Jun 2021 12:26pm

Pro-European MPs have got bigger problems than the Labour leadership

Even if the leadership is persuaded to change its view, the hard core of Labour leavers may not. 

By Stephen Bush

What I love about covering the Labour Party is that if you live long enough, every possible position will be adopted by every available faction. 30 pro-European grandees, ranging from the parliamentary party to the mayors of the cities of Liverpool and Manchester to, have written to the chair of the party’s ruling national executive committee, calling for party members to be consulted on the party’s European strategy.

Although the ideological make-up of the list is not exclusively drawn from those you could fairly call “Blairite”, it is fair to say that it is not a list of people who, in the main, have been particularly excited about opening up the party’s policymaking processes to ordinary members, although there are exceptions. Equally, of course, the Labour leadership has a longstanding history of support for consulting the party membership beyond the confines of party conference, and polled members on the question of whether or not to bomb Syria.

The problem Labour’s pro-Europeans have is that they have the numbers to override the government’s majority as far as retaining the single market and customs union goes on paper. That is to say, the number of willing Conservative dissidents is enough to overcome the Tory-DUP majority. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to overcome the votes of the seven Labour leavers and the Tory-DUP majority. 

The difficulty is, the pro-Europeans were right the first time. No vote – not of the country, not of the Labour membership, not of Parliament – can make leaving the single market and customs union the right approach for the United Kingdom. No vote – not of the country, not of Parliament, and not of the Labour membership – can make it the wrong approach for the country either. That’s not how economics or policymaking works.

Ten million people voted for the Conservative plan to close the deficit in 2010 and 11 million did so in 2015. In both cases, that plan turned out to be unrealistic and unachievable. The last election narrowly repudiated a plan to take the East Coast rail franchise back into public hands but now the demands of running that franchise may mean it happens anyway. Votes can change a lot of things but they can’t change facts.

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU

The only question that ought to matter for MPs is not what the party whip says, not what they think will happen to them at the next election, and not what their membership says, but whether staying in the customs union and single market is the right approach or not. And the problem for pro-Europeans is that a critical mass of Labour’s Brexiteers think that it isn’t. 

Content from our partners
The promise of prevention
How Labour hopes to make the UK a leader in green energy
Is now the time to rethink health and care for older people? With Age UK

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU