Responding to the meaningful vote in the House of Commons tonight (Tuesday 12 March 2019) Stephen Morgan MP, Member of Parliament for Portsmouth South, said:

“In 2016 the referendum outcome in Portsmouth South reflected the national result. Since then I’ve been listening closely to those who voted leave and those who voted remain. It is clear Theresa May’s deal lets everyone down. 

This remains a deeply flawed deal that will not protect jobs, rights or living standards in Portsmouth. Even the Government themselves say the deal will make us worse off.

It does not deliver a good deal on services and would limit access for British businesses to vital markets.It gives no certainty for the UK to remain part of common security arrangements such as the European Arrest Warrant.

Yet the Prime Minister has failed to deliver any substantial change to her deal. Not a single word of the Withdrawal Agreement or the Political Declaration has changed. Her own Attorney General’s advice confirms there are no significant changes to the backstop despite the new documents and that ‘the legal risk remains unchanged’.

After weeks of delay, the Government’s strategy is in tatters. Taken together, the Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration are a miserable failure after two years of negotiations. Last minute tweaks do not change that.

That is why on behalf of the people of Portsmouth, to protect local jobs and our city’s economy, and for the sake of the future of our great country, I voted against the deal in Parliament tonight”.

The focus of Labour’s concern with this deal has never been on the backstop. Labour has repeatedly emphasised that there needs to be fundamental change to the Political Declaration to ensure a close economic relationship with the EU.

The city MP has called for a final say – via a people’s vote – for the people of Portsmouth on the Brexit deal and vowed to put party politics to one side and continue to work with other parliamentarians and across the House of Commons to prevent a ‘no deal’ outcome.

This includes supporting or tabling amendments to support a public vote.