News / Politics
Bristol West MP promoted to front bench
Thangam Debbonaire took to the despatch box on Wednesday in her new role as shadow Brexit minister.
The MP for Bristol West led Labour’s scrutiny of the Government’s Withdrawal Agreement Bill in her new front bench role and she slammed the Tories decision to drop commitments to allow unaccompanied child refugees to join family members in the UK as “needlessly cruel”.
Debbonaire, a pro-remain politician who was re-elected in December with a majority of almost 30,000, has said it is an honour – if a wistful one – to be promoted to the shadow cabinet. She was offered the role by Sir Keir Starmer, who is currently in the running to be the next Labour leader.
is needed now More than ever
The role is expected to be a short term one as the Department for Exiting the European Union is not set to continue after January 31, the latest deadline for Britain to leave the EU.
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Debbonaire told Bristol24/7: “As a shadow Brexit minister, I’ll take a major role in scrutinising the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, which aims to take the UK out of the EU. This legislation is even more destructive than previous iterations of the so-called ‘Brexit deal’. It falls far short of promises made by the Prime Minister and others in the 2016 referendum.
“The bill is also needlessly cruel, dropping commitments to allow unaccompanied child refugees to join their family members in the UK. I’m looking forward to leading Labour’s challenge on this point. This change was not in the Conservative manifesto and the government has no mandate for shrugging off these commitments, brought forward by campaigner Lord Dubs.”
The Bristol West MP will also be scrutinising matters such as parliamentary scrutiny of Brexit, Northern Ireland and parliamentary sovereignty.
Putting forward Labour’s amendments to the Withdrawal Agreement Bill in the House of Commons on Wednesday, she said transparency and accountability over Northern Ireland in the Brexit process is too important to leave to chance, stating: “This is not just about trade, it’s about people and values.”
Debbonaire, who is set to continue in her role as party whip, has previously held a front bench seat but resigned in 2016, along with other MPs including Bristol East MP Kerry McCarthy, as part of a post-Brexit rebellion against Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
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