Quote of the day 5th October 2019

"Boris Johnson’s Government has now had the time to put together a new Withdrawal Deal, the details of which were announced earlier this week. Of course, it isn’t perfect, but as Daniel Johnson wrote yesterday, it represents an attempt by the British Government to find a solution that meets the demands of all sides, while factoring devolved democracy into the Northern Irish equation, as the Belfast Agreement requires. 

 And, most importantly for anyone worried about the consequences of a no-deal Brexit, it would take it “off the table”. 

 And yet, within an hour of the details being published — before anyone had had a chance to read and scrutinise the document — the Labour leadership had released a statement saying that it could not support it. 

No one knows what will happen with Brexit now. But one thing’s for sure: leaving without a deal is still very much an option. Yes, the Benn Act might mean we get an extension, but that extension could well make no-deal even more likely: after watching Britain flail around a few extra months for no good reason, the EU may (quite reasonably) decide enough is enough and kick us out. 

If that happens – or the PM finds a legal loophole to the Benn Act and gets Britain out without a deal on 31 October — Labour will have a lot of questions to answer. Three times they’ve been given an opportunity to see off no-deal for good. And three times they have rejected it." 

(Olivia Utley, from a piece called "Labour will have a lot of questions to answer if we leave without a deal" on the "The Article" site.)

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