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We need a Labour Government to clean up the Tories' Brexit mess says Usdaw

Date: 11 September 2019 Shopworkers’ trade union leader Paddy Lillis has praised today’s address by Sir Keir Starmer MP to the Trades Union Congress in Brighton.
Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union told delegates: “Congress, we have to stop no deal. Last week – we beat them in Parliament and very soon we will have to beat them at the ballot box. That battle is coming. It cannot – and it should not – be put off for long. We need a Labour Government. A radical Labour Government. A government that can pull this country back from the brink and transform our society and our public services.

“Brexit will of course be a crucial issue at this election. We have to draw a line under the wasted years of Tory rule and failed negotiations. We will have to break the deadlock. And clean up the mess left by the Tories. A referendum is the only way to do so. And that is why Jeremy was right to say at Congress yesterday that an incoming Labour government will commit to a referendum and, of course, ‘remain’ should and will be on the ballot paper along with a credible option to leave.”

Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “We share Keir Starmer’s view that a ‘no deal’ Brexit would be catastrophic for working people. Usdaw has consistently said we would oppose any Brexit deal that fails to protect workers’ rights, ensures frictionless trade and maintains the Good Friday Agreement by avoiding a hard border in Ireland.

“The first priority for Parliament is to ensure that we don’t leave the European Union without a deal, with all the risks that involves. So Labour was right to put the security of workers and the prosperity of the country first, ahead of a general election.

“We now have a Government without a majority, riven by internal party divisions and consumed by Brexit. Their prorogation of Parliament has now been declared unlawful and the Prime Minister should immediately recall MPs to sort out the mess the Tories have made of Brexit.

“Our members and their employers need certainty, the failure of Brexit has gone on for far too long and needs to be resolved by a vote of the public.”

Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 410,000 members. Membership has increased by more than one-third over the last couple of decades. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
 
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion

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The official website of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers