It is not surprising MPs have had sleepless nights while deciding how to vote today.
The outcome will determine our future for decades to come. This is not “just” about getting Brexit done. It is about who runs the country, the money in your pocket, public services, job security and the UK’s future.
Labour’s objections to Boris Johnson ’s deal are twofold. First, it is far more economically damaging than Theresa May ’s deal.
The UK in a Changing Europe think tank calculates GDP per capita could fall up to 7% over the next decade – meaning less money for schools, hospitals and the police.
Secondly, it paves the way for the rolling back of rights such as paid holidays, equal pay for part-time workers and basic health and safety safeguards. Protections workers now take for granted could be swept away.
The deal also puts at risk the United Kingdom. Under the agreement Northern Ireland gets to stay for the foreseeable future in the EU’s single market. How long before Scotland asks why it is only one part of the UK that gets this preferential treatment?
The result of the next election also hinges on it. If Johnson is victorious he will go to the polls having delivered on his promise to “get Brexit done”. The threat posed by the Brexit Party will have been extinguished.
Except Brexit will not be done. The next stage involves negotiating a trade deal with the EU, along with side deals on everything from security coooperation to aviation.
And that is before we have to strike trade deals with countries such as the US. If anything, these negotiations will be more tortuous than anything we have seen so far.
