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28th March 2019
05:53pm GMT

John Bercow, speaker of the House (Credit: Jack Taylor)[/caption]
By separating the withdrawal agreement from the political declaration more MPs may be inclined to support the prime minister's deal, which has suffered two historic defeats in the Commons.
A reason for this is that the political declaration states there would not be a customs union between the UK and EU. The Labour party's Brexit position is for there to be a customs union. Therefore, by not voting on the political declaration some Labour MPs may be swayed into supporting the withdrawal agreement only.
Jeremy Corbyn said Labour would not support the deal tomorrow.
Theresa May's de-facto deputy David Liddington, speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce conference in London today, said: "If you believe in delivering the referendum result by leaving the EU with a deal then it is necessary to back the withdrawal agreement,” he told the British Chambers of Commerce conference in London.
"Whether a particular MP wants the final destination to look like Norway or look like Canada or look like the proposals in the Chequers white paper, the starting point is the withdrawal agreement itself."
At the same conference, Labour's Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said: "If the prime minister tries to separate the withdrawal agreement and the political declaration altogether, that only makes matters worse. We would be leaving the EU, but with absolutely no idea where we are heading. That cannot be acceptable and Labour will not vote for it."
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