Shadow home secretary diane abbott’s future in the shadow cabinet is in doubt after she failed to guarantee she would support Britain's departure from the European Union. Last week, Diane Abbott missed the vote to on article 50, citing a migraine.
Rebellion despite three line whip
Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, has struggled to implement any sort of consistent discipline on his MPs. During the vote, almost a quarter of Labour MPs voted against triggering article 50, despite Corbyn implementing a three line whip to vote in favour of the Brexit bill.
During last week, three shadow cabinet members resigned-Jo Stevens, the shadow secretary for Wales, Racheal Maskell, the shadow environment secretary, and Dawn Butler, the shadow secretary for diverse communities. Despite these notable departures, most of the media attention was on Diane Abbott due to her close relationship with Jeremy Corbyn. On Saturday, a spokesperson claimed that Abbott would be voting in accordance with the party whip.
Abbott's constituency, Hackney North and Stoke Newington, voted 70 per cent to 30 per cent to remain in the European Union. Many labour mps representing remain constituencies have refused to act in accordance with Corbyn's three line whip due to fears of a hard Brexit that doesn't represent their constituents.
Next week, Labour are expected to try to begin to forge cross-party agreements on amendments to the Brexit bill. However, such agreements will likely be hard to come by due to the burgeoning conflict within the Labour Party.
Labour's Brexit spokesperson, Keir Starmer, has demanded the following from discussions:
- A guarantee that parliament will get to vote on the final Brexit package before it is signed off by the European Union.
- 2.8 million European Union citizens living in the United Kingdom can remain.
- Assurances for British citizens currently living in the European Union
Labour have yet to release a contingency plan if these concessions are not made.
Further, many Labour MPs are demanding that the United Kingdom retains access to the single market, which is incredibly unlikely.
Clive Lewis, shadow business secretary, said he will not vote to trigger article 50 unless a series of amendments are added to block a hard Brexit. A Labour source told the Guardian that if Corbyn loses Abbott and Lewis over Brexit, it could spell the end for Corbyn as Labour party leader.