Wakefield MPs ready to vote against Brexit deal

Wakefield district MPs are preparing to vote against Theresa May's Brexit deal next week.
MP Mary Creagh.MP Mary Creagh.
MP Mary Creagh.

Both Wakefield MP Mary Creagh and Pontefract and Castleford MP Yvette Cooper will register their opposition to the proposal when the time comes in a Commons vote on Tuesday, as the Brexit deadline of March 29 draws ever closer.

The Prime Minister’s deal, which she has described as “the only possible deal” for leaving the EU as far back as November, has been the subject of much scrutiny in recent weeks.

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READ: Labour’s Corbyn demands general election over Brexit at Wakefield rallyAnd this week it was reported that the EU was ready to provide new “written guarantees, explanations and assurances” to help Theresa May surmount huge opposition heading into the vote.

Yvette Cooper MP.Yvette Cooper MP.
Yvette Cooper MP.

Such assurances are unlikely to reverse the opinions of the district’s MPs, however, who both campaigned for remain in the lead-up to the 2016 referendum.

Ms Creagh said: “As I said during the debate before Christmas, I will vote against the Withdrawal Agreement.

“Theresa May’s Brexit will make people in Wakefield poorer, destroy jobs and businesses, remove workers’ rights, harm our environment, and reduce the tax base that funds our NHS, schools and council services.

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“Delaying the meaningful vote has not changed my mind. It is now clear there is no form of Brexit that can fulfil the promises made during the Brexit campaign and there is no deal as good as the one we have got as a member of the EU.

Andrea Jenkyns MP.Andrea Jenkyns MP.
Andrea Jenkyns MP.

“That’s why the final decision should be handed back to the public in a People’s Vote as only they can sort this out.”

Yvette Cooper said: “I think Theresa May has made a real mess of this and she’s lost support from all sides. She wants us to vote on a wish list rather than a proper plan. The Prime Minister’s deal isn’t really a deal at all, it’s more of a stop gap.

“Moving the vote has been a complete farce, she’s just trying to give herself some time to convince her own side to vote with her, but it doesn’t seem to be working

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A spokesman for Morley and Outwood MP Andrew Jenkyns said: “Andrea will not be supporting the Prime Minister’s Withdrawal agreement next week. Andrea strongly feels that the vote should not have been delayed as this would have sent a strong message to Brussels that this is not a deal in which parliament can get behind.”

Hemsworth MP Jon Trickett has been approached for comment.

Senior Conservatives backed an amendment against a no deal Brexit in parliament this week.

MPs this week backed an amendment, tabled by Ms Cooper, that would limit the scope for tax changes following a no deal unless authorised by MPs, by 303 to 296.

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THE withdrawal agreement has been agreed by all 27 EU leaders, but has not yet been approved by MPs.

The deal lays out the terms of the UK’s exit from the EU, but has been widely criticised, and many MPs, both those in the leave and remain camps, have said they will not back the deal.

Parliament debated the deal in December but a vote tabled on the agreement was postponed until this month.

If accepted, it will become the formal deal for the UK’s exit from the EU, covering, among other things, the transition period, financial settlement to be paid and citizens’ rights.

But if MPs reject the deal, the future becomes uncertain.

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The UK is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29, 2019. If a deal is not accepted by MPs before this date, there is a chance the UK could leave the EU with no deal in place.

Wakefield voted Leave by 66.4 per cent, with 116,165 votes, to 33.6 per cent for Remain with 58,877 votes.

The turnout was 71.1 per cent.