Labour's "Illogical" Position On Brexit "Defies Belief", Says Tory MP

25 January 2017, 08:01 | Updated: 25 January 2017, 08:13

Nick Ferrari James Cleverly

This Brexit debate shows that Labour's position on the EU is illogical, according to this Conservative MP.

James Cleverly was debating Richard Corbett, Labour's Deputy Leader in the European Parliament after the Supreme Court ruling that Brexit could only be triggered by parliament and not just by Theresa May's government.

Mr Corbett said that the government needed to set out the options for Britain and fully cost them, so we can see what is possible.

But Mr Cleverly said he was "all over the place", suggesting that doing so would severely harm Mrs May's negotiating position.

Mr Corbett said: "You can't start a negotiation without putting your demands on the table and we need to choose what our demands are."

When Nick Ferrari put to him that he was keen on another referendum, he said: "If it turns out to be the case that Brexit will be far more costly and damaging to Britain than we were told then people will be demanding the right to reconsider."

But Mr Cleverly, the MP for Braintree, said: "We've just seen why Labour are all over the place on this. Mr Corbett's position is so illogical it defies belief.

"Obviously, if you were negotiating, bearing in mind that the EU don't want us to leave, if you were negotiating with the British and you knew that at the end of the process that your negotiating position was going to be validated by a second referendum, why would you give anything away in the negotiation?

"You would make the negotiation outcome as unpalatable as possible, hoping that the British people go 'That deal is appalling, we're not going to leave the EU'."

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