Labour MPs in Leave areas are ready to back Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal if he enshrines in UK law EU-style workers rights and other protections, HuffPost UK can reveal.
Backbenchers in the party’s pro-Brexit heartlands want to see a bill published before Saturday’s Commons vote on the deal, turning future promises into legislative reality.
With the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)’s 10 MPs making clear their unhappiness with Johnson’s plans, and some Tory Eurosceptics likely to follow suit, the PM may need Labour votes to deliver on his pledge to get the UK out of the EU by October 31.
Some 19 Labour MPs wrote to European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker earlier this month, declaring that they “wish to see the British EU referendum result honoured without further delay”.
A Labour backbencher from a strongly Leave-voting constituency said that they were going through the text of the Johnson-EU deal agreed on Thursday, but a key section was the “level playing field” proposals to maintain the UK’s workers and environmental rights.
“In some ways, this is weaker than May’s deal because it takes them from the withdrawal agreement and puts them into the non-binding political declaration,” the MP said.
“But if Boris can write all these things onto the face of a bill, and bring that bill forward pronto, we can vote for it.”
One of the signatories added that around 10 Labour MPs are now in the mood to vote for “any deal”.
It is unclear exactly how many of the others are willing to risk their careers by siding with the Conservatives.
Some MPs believe that the sheer fact that the EU has signed up to the deal offers Labour cover to support it as Brussels is keen not to water down Europe-wide rights to allow the UK to undercut its economies.
Others want more time to assess the detail of the text agreed by the UK and EU, and are demanding a Treasury impact assessment.
However, several members of the hardcore European Research Group (ERG) of Tory backbench Brexiteers are already nervous about the linking UK powers on workers’ rights to EU standards indefinitely.
The revised ‘political declaration’ published on Thursday states that the UK will “maintain environmental, social and employment standards at the current high levels provided by the existing common standards”.
A former cabinet minister, who voted Remain and is not part of the ERG, told HuffPost UK: “If I can’t have a say over the rules, I don’t want to be bound by them.”
Labour MPs thinking of backing Johnson’s plans are coming under heavy pressure not to support him on Saturday.
Jeremy Corbyn has made increasingly clear that he sees the PM’s plans as a ’Trump deal’ that will lead to a race to the bottom on workplace and other rights, particularly as there are sections boasting of divergence from EU rules.
Corbyn will himself face calls to come down hard on any rebels to withdraw the whip and automatically bar them from standing as Labour candidates at the next election.
Some of them are privately resigned to such sanctions, but many others are wary, one MP said.
Others believe that the party leadership is forcing them to back Johnson’s deal by indicating they will be whipped to vote for a second referendum - a scenario several believe will hit them hard with voters in their seats.
Corbyn said on Thursday: “This sell out deal won’t bring the country together and should be rejected. The best way to get Brexit sorted is to give the people the final say in a public vote.”