Ex-Welsh Labour MP denounces Rachel Reeves over Brexit U-turn

Martin Shipton

Former Welsh Labour MP Geraint Davies has criticised ex-Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ newfound enthusiasm for Britain rejoining the EU, pointing out that she had urged Labour MPs to back the Tories’ hard Brexit deal.

In an article for The Sunday Times, Ms Reeves, who lost her Cabinet post when Andy Burnham took over as Prime Minister, blamed Brexit for making the UK “poorer, weaker and less secure” – and said Britain’s future must be in the EU.

She backed Mr Burnham’s push for a rethink on the relationship with the bloc. The Prime Minister has said he wants an “open conversation” on the EU and has left the door open to fighting the next election on a promise to take the UK back into the bloc.

In her first significant intervention since being sacked in July, Ms Reeves wrote: “I am proud of the progress we have already made in strengthening our relationship with the European Union.

“Brexit has made us poorer, weaker and less secure. There is a debate to be had about our future relationship with Europe, and I welcome Andy Burnham’s leadership in facing up to this. No one in the Treasury ever doubted where my instincts were.”

She added: “I do believe Britain’s future lies in the European Union. However, it is incumbent on supporters of our re-entry to make the argument, demonstrate tangible benefits and to get the next steps right — especially ahead of the UK-EU summit later this month, where at a minimum we should be looking for confirmation of the ambitious youth mobility scheme negotiated earlier this year, and — I hope — progress towards entry into the SAFE defence partnership.”

Mr Davies, who stepped down as MP for Swansea West before the 2024 general election, wrote on Facebook: “Rachel Reeves presented Starmer’s orders to Labour MPs to support the Tories’ hard Brexit EU deal at the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), yet is now U-turning under a new boss. As Swansea West MP, I defied the orders.

“Reeves repeated Starmer’s claim that Labour support was necessary to avoid a ‘no deal’ Brexit. However, I pointed out at the PLP that if all Labour MPs abstained, it would have required 280 Tories to oppose their own deal to get a no deal.

“As well as being unnecessary, Labour voting for Boris Johnson’s hard Brexit deal broke the rules Starmer had created as the basis to vote against Theresa May’s softer Brexit deals that were voted down. So Starmer and Reeves defied logic and principle in voting for the Tories’ hard Brexit deal. Starmer had decreed his position and Reeves followed orders.

“I had put down a Bill to require a public vote on any deal so people could confirm what they got was what they voted for in the referendum, but this wasn’t supported by the Labour Party. I ignored Labour orders to vote for a hard Brexit deal that was bad for Swansea West, while Rachel Reeves, having previously led the charge to support voting for the Tories’ hard Brexit deal, has now undergone a remarkable conversion.”

‘Difficult issues’

Mr Davies told Nation.Cymru: “I wrote to Reeves after the PLP meeting to confirm my arguments, but she replied something along the lines of ‘these are difficult issues’.

“The problem was that Starmer was instructing Labour MPs to vote for Tory policies – perhaps to make him look more Tory after supporting Jeremy Corbyn. He told Labour MPs to vote for Conservative bills which gave legal immunity to undercover agents, protected perpetrators of war crimes and limited the rights of abused soldiers to bring cases against the MoD. I voted against all these Tory measures.”