• Labour to bring forward a binding motion in Parliament to block no deal
• Plymouth stands to be hit the hardest from a no deal Brexit says research
• Local MP Luke Pollard says his party’s motion is “crucial to prevent lasting economic damage to Plymouth”

Tomorrow, Labour will force a vote in Parliament to allow MPs to seize control of the parliamentary agenda and introduce legislation to prevent the next Tory Prime Minister pursuing a no deal Brexit later this year.

The motion will allow MPs to take control of the House of Commons agenda on Tuesday 25^th June. MPs will then have the chance to introduce legislation that could help avoid the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal.

The motion will use the same procedure that was used earlier this year to block a no deal Brexit in March. Unlike typical opposition day debates, the motion, if passed, will be binding.

Luke Pollard MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport said:

“Brexit is a mess. It is taking longer than we were promised it would and it is costing more and is more complicated than we were told it would be in the referendum. It is also closing off opportunities for our young people. There is no democratic mandate for no deal. The official Leave campaign of the 2016 referendum, Vote Leave, said that Britain would leave the EU with a deal. In 2017, I was elected on a manifesto that opposed leaving the EU with no deal. That’s why I’m proud to back Labour’s motion to would stop the UK crashing out on WTO terms.

 

I cannot vote for anything that would make Plymouth poorer or lose jobs in our city. That is precisely what leaving the EU without a deal would mean for our city. The damage of a no deal Brexit to our economy, business and trade exports such as food and medicines would have significant and lasting consequences for Plymouth and would make us all poorer. It would open our NHS for sale to the US and bring chlorinated chicken to our supermarket shelves via a trade deal with President Trump. I’m worried that a no deal exit would mean higher food prices, immediate tariffs on imports and exports, queues at the border and an economic shock that would make us all poorer. It would mean uncertainty for millions of Brits living in the EU and the millions of our EU friends living here. Crashing out on WTO terms would not only be a bad deal, but the worst of all deals.”