LONDON: The passage of a Brexit bill in parliament is reopening deep divisions among lawmakers in Britain’s opposition Labour party, as they struggle to reconcile their pro-European views with voter concerns over immigration.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn ordered his members of parliament to support the first stage of a bill on Wednesday empowering the government to begin EU negotiations, but 47 MPs rebelled — and a dozen others were absent.
Further rebellions are likely when the legislation returns to the House of Commons next week, if — as is likely — Labour fails to push through amendments seeking to ease the terms of the divorce from the European Union.
The disagreements threaten to further undermine Corbyn’s leadership, after the left-winger survived a failed bid to oust him by a majority of his more centrist MPs following the referendum vote in June.
But the divisions reflect wider problems in the Labour party, which has for years been balancing its liberal instincts with the concerns of many working-class voters about mass migration from the rest of the EU.
In the EU referendum, the vast majority of Labour MPs campaigned to remain in the 28-nation bloc, but two-thirds of their constituencies voted to leave.
“The party derives its support from two very different constituencies,” said Simon Lee, senior politics lecturer at the University of Hull.
He added: “In the metropolitan, university constituencies, the clear majority of the electorate voted in the referendum to remain.
“But the majority of the seats that Labour needs either to hold or to win, are constituencies which voted to leave.”
By refusing to block the Brexit process, Corbyn clearly has an eye on the latter — and an early sign of whether he is succeeding will come in a by-election later this month.
The anti-immigration, anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) has high hopes of winning the Brexit-supporting seat of Stoke-on-Trent, held until now by Labour.
Among the Labour rebels on Wednesday were 10 members of Corbyn’s shadow cabinet and three whips — MPs who are meant to enforce party discipline — while four other members of his team resigned ahead of the vote.
One of his strongest supporters, Diane Abbott, has been criticized for missing the vote.
She complained of a severe migraine, but also represents a London constituency heavily opposed Brexit.
The New Statesman meanwhile reported that 7,000 party members have resigned since Corbyn announced his backing for the Brexit bill.
Even The Canary, a strongly pro-Corbyn news website, said it was a “colossal mistake” that “could sink his leadership.”
Corbyn has so far refused to discipline those who rebelled, postponing any decisions until next week.
Labour has pledged to fight to maintain access to Europe’s single market and protections on workers’ rights, particularly after Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May warned she was willing to leave the EU without a new trade deal in place.
But many MPs have warned ignoring the referendum would only encourage the anti-establishment feeling that helped drive the vote — and the election of Donald Trump in the United States.
“I won’t drive people toward Trump politics by ignoring them,” said Labour’s business spokesman Clive Lewis.
However, he threatened to rebel if Labour fails to amend the bill next week to prevent a “hard” Brexit.
His concerns were echoed by other Labour MPs.
“This is not an easy time to be a social democrat. We live in a time of surging nationalism and a growing instinct toward closed economies,” said Wes Streeting.
But he added: “I say to my party that if we want to be in government again and to create the world that we want to see, we must first engage with the world as it is.”
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Brexit bill reopens old wounds for UK Labour
Brexit bill reopens old wounds for UK Labour
Poland withdraws from treaty banning antipersonnel mines and will use them to defend against Russia
- 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty prohibits signatories from keeping or using antipersonnel mines
- Poland will begin domestic production of both antipersonnel and anti-tank land mines
WARSAW: Poland will use antipersonnel as well as anti-tank land mines to defend its eastern border against the growing threat from Russia, Poland’s deputy defense minister said on Friday as the country officially left an international convention banning the use of the controversial weapons.
The 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty, also known as the Ottawa Convention, prohibits signatories from keeping or using antipersonnel mines, which can last for years and are known for having caused large-scale suffering among civilians in former conflict zones in countries including Cambodia, Angola and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Poland, which ratified the document in 2012 and completed the destruction of its domestic anti-personnel mine stockpile in 2016, withdrew from the treaty on Friday and says it plans to renew manufacturing weapons.
“These mines are one of the most important elements of the defense structure we are constructing on the eastern flank of NATO, in Poland, on the border with Russia in the north and with Belarus in the east,” Paweł Zalewski, Poland’s deputy defense minister, said.
He said Poland needed to defend itself against Russia, a country which “has very aggressive intentions vis a vis its neighbors” and which itself never committed to the international land mine ban treaty.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, nearby countries have been reassessing their participation in the international treaty. Last year, Warsaw joined Finland, the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and Ukraine to announce it would leave the treaty.
Russia is one of nearly three dozen countries that have never acceded to the Ottawa treaty, alongside the United States.
Poland vows to make its own mines
Zalewski said that Poland will begin domestic production of both antipersonnel and anti-tank land mines, adding that the government would cooperate with Polish producers. He said Poland was aiming for self-sufficiency.
Land mines are an explosive weapon that’s placed on or just under the ground and blows up when a person or a vehicle crosses over them. Anti-tank mines, which are designed not to be triggered by a person’s weight, are not forbidden by the Ottawa Convention.
Speaking on Thursday after attending a demonstration of Bluszcz, an unmanned vehicle designed to distribute anti-tank mines produced by Polish company Belma SA and a military research institute, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland would “soon” have the ability to mine its eastern borders within 48 hours in case of a threat.
Given the length of the country’s eastern borders, he said, “a lot” of land mines will be needed.
Poland says it will only use mines in case of ‘realistic threat of Russian aggression’
Poland plans to prepare mine stockpiles as part of the so-called Eastern Shield, a system of enhanced fortifications Poland has been building on its borders with Belarus and Russia since 2024, Zalewski said.
But he said that Poland would only deploy the mines along its borders “when there is a realistic threat of Russian aggression.”
“We very much respect our territory and we don’t want to exclude it from day to day use for the Polish citizens,” Zalewski said.
Human rights groups have condemned moves to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention, arguing that anti-personnel mines are too dangerous to civilians.
But Zalewski responded that the country is striking a balance by keeping the mines in reserve unless the country faces attack.
“We are not an aggressive country,” he said, “but we have to use all means to deter Russia.”
The 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty, also known as the Ottawa Convention, prohibits signatories from keeping or using antipersonnel mines, which can last for years and are known for having caused large-scale suffering among civilians in former conflict zones in countries including Cambodia, Angola and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Poland, which ratified the document in 2012 and completed the destruction of its domestic anti-personnel mine stockpile in 2016, withdrew from the treaty on Friday and says it plans to renew manufacturing weapons.
“These mines are one of the most important elements of the defense structure we are constructing on the eastern flank of NATO, in Poland, on the border with Russia in the north and with Belarus in the east,” Paweł Zalewski, Poland’s deputy defense minister, said.
He said Poland needed to defend itself against Russia, a country which “has very aggressive intentions vis a vis its neighbors” and which itself never committed to the international land mine ban treaty.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, nearby countries have been reassessing their participation in the international treaty. Last year, Warsaw joined Finland, the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and Ukraine to announce it would leave the treaty.
Russia is one of nearly three dozen countries that have never acceded to the Ottawa treaty, alongside the United States.
Poland vows to make its own mines
Zalewski said that Poland will begin domestic production of both antipersonnel and anti-tank land mines, adding that the government would cooperate with Polish producers. He said Poland was aiming for self-sufficiency.
Land mines are an explosive weapon that’s placed on or just under the ground and blows up when a person or a vehicle crosses over them. Anti-tank mines, which are designed not to be triggered by a person’s weight, are not forbidden by the Ottawa Convention.
Speaking on Thursday after attending a demonstration of Bluszcz, an unmanned vehicle designed to distribute anti-tank mines produced by Polish company Belma SA and a military research institute, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland would “soon” have the ability to mine its eastern borders within 48 hours in case of a threat.
Given the length of the country’s eastern borders, he said, “a lot” of land mines will be needed.
Poland says it will only use mines in case of ‘realistic threat of Russian aggression’
Poland plans to prepare mine stockpiles as part of the so-called Eastern Shield, a system of enhanced fortifications Poland has been building on its borders with Belarus and Russia since 2024, Zalewski said.
But he said that Poland would only deploy the mines along its borders “when there is a realistic threat of Russian aggression.”
“We very much respect our territory and we don’t want to exclude it from day to day use for the Polish citizens,” Zalewski said.
Human rights groups have condemned moves to withdraw from the Ottawa Convention, arguing that anti-personnel mines are too dangerous to civilians.
But Zalewski responded that the country is striking a balance by keeping the mines in reserve unless the country faces attack.
“We are not an aggressive country,” he said, “but we have to use all means to deter Russia.”
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