Several members of Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet are considering refusing to vote for a bill triggering article 50, amid widespread concern among Labour MPs about the party’s response to Brexit. One shadow cabinet minister from a remain constituency told the Guardian: “I’m concerned that if we wave article 50 through, my constituents will go crazy.” Another said: “When the pain hits, as it will, and when people lose their jobs, you need to be on the right side of that. The shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, who accepted a job in Corbyn’s shadow cabinet after the bitter summer leadership campaign, has sought to straddle the divide, and represent the concerns of both leave and remain voters. But some Labour MPs complained that stance was “too hedged; too nuanced”, and that they were left ill-prepared for the debate, and unsure what the party’s stance was until late on Tuesday afternoon. “But I know that there are people who voted leave did so after leave campaigners said Britain would be staying in the single market.

Source: The Guardian January 19, 2017 06:56 UTC