A shadow minister has claimed that Labour would be “minded to support” any Brexit deal Boris Johnson secures with the EU, as he claimed that the prime minister is playing Russian roulette with people’s jobs and livelihoods by threatening a no-deal scenario.
Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband warned that leaving the EU without a free trade agreement would be “a disastrous outcome” and accused the prime minister of being “cavalier” with the country’s national interests.
Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Miliband said: “I say no-deal is a disastrous outcome for the country, it is not a wonderful outcome and it is a disgrace, frankly, that Boris Johnson said it.”
Asked if Labour would vote for a deal if it were achieved, the shadow business secretary said his party will “look at the detail”.
Pushed further, he added: “We’ve said we’re minded to support it.”
Miliband continued: “(Boris Johnson) has been cavalier. This is a man who is cavalier with our national interest and, frankly, Andrew, he is playing Russian roulette with the jobs and livelihoods of people up and down the country.
“How dare he say it’ll be a wonderful outcome when we know the impact (of a no-deal) on our farmers?”
He added: “I think it is ideological, Andrew, this; I think people have to understand this. This is about the vision of the country we have in the future.
“Do we want a country with high standards on the environment, high standards on workers’ rights, or do we want a country where we race to the bottom, where we try and deregulate our way to economic success?
“It is about the vision of Britain, this, it is in the end about what vision you have of the country and I say we don’t deregulate our way to economic success.”
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