Letter: Single Market vote

Submitted by cathy n on 21 September, 2017 - 2:50 Author: Martin Thomas

I suspect a sentence in the editorial of Solidarity (447) said something different from what the writer intended:

“For Labour to back a Tory amendment on a single market would be a mistake”.
Presumably it was meant to read “the single market”. But why a mistake?

Labour should have a distinct policy, based on working-class solidarity across Europe, further reduction of borders, free movement, etc. If Labour limits its message to just a vote for a liberal-Tory pro-single-market amendment, that will be bad.

But the problem will be with the limiting, not with the vote. We want to change some Single Market rules; but as against the Tories’ plan to wall off the British economy, we are for free trade and harmonised regulations across Europe.

Labour should vote for Tory amendments, from the likes of Anna Soubry, for staying in the single market, or even for staying in the single market temporarily.

When faced with a choice between May’s “hard Brexit”, and a vote between a liberal Tory amendment for staying in the Single Market which can bring a chance of defeating the government, why would we want Labour to save the day for May?

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