The Speaker
Friday, 29 March 2024 – 04:53

New cross-party group to warn against hard Brexit

Former Minister David Miliband is set to make a return to politics as he joins Nicky Morgan and Nick Clegg in a new cross-party trio with the aim of stopping a hard Brexit.

Mr Miliband has denied claims that he is trying to launch a new centrist movement and he was warned that Britain is being ‘held to ransom’ by the European Union. 

The group of former ministers say that a hard Brexit would threaten both living standards and jobs in the UK. Mr Miliband, who made a speech about how he was “alarmed” at the state of Brexit negotiations said: “This is about calling for MPs of all parties to stand together.”

“The truth is that Britain is being held to ransom by the demand for hard Brexit, for severing the links with the customs union and the single market that is at the heart of the debate going on at the moment.”

“The prospects of a hard Brexit are very high now and, what’s worse, the prospect of no deal is rising too.”

Mr Miliband added: “The negotiation is not with Europe at the moment; the negotiation is in the Cabinet room. This isn’t funny.

“We are less than 120 days away from the final negotiation.”

The speech from the three former ministers came as the EU warned Britain it was running out of time to secure a deal. The group criticised the Government for their handling of negotiations, but also leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn over Labour’s refusal to support a Lords amendment that would allow Britain to become part of the European Economic Area (EEA).

 

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