Theresa May

• WHAT a difference a year makes. Only one year ago, by the time party conferences had finished, Labour was rebuilding after a second leadership election in as many years.

Meanwhile the Conservatives were full of confidence having just appointed Theresa May as their new leader.

One year later and the political landscape has been turned upside down. May’s premiership is hanging by a thread while Labour has shown it has the political programme to govern.

As Brexit negotiations lurch from crisis to crisis, it seems that this reversal of fortunes is set to continue.

Negotiations with the EU are about to enter their fifth round, a crucial stage in which EU nationals’ rights, exit payments, and our relationship with the European Court of Justice all need resolving decisively.

It is no exaggeration to say these issues will affect the lives of successive generations in this country. And yet, our government is in total disarray.

With the prime minister unable to tame the uncontrollable ego of her foreign secretary, and Brexiteers demanding the chancellor steps down for being “too pessimistic”, it is no surprise that our negotiating partners in Brussels view us as weak.

At this critical juncture, the country deserves a serious government with a sense of purpose rather than the internal squabbling and House of Cards-style implosion currently on view to the entire continent.

Led by my Camden parliamentary colleague Sir Keir Starmer, Labour has set out six clear tests for Brexit prioritising citizens’ shared rights and employment protections.

While there are undeniably differences of opinions on the finer points of our negotiating position, the fundamental outlook is a shared one.

We understand that the referendum of June 2016 did not provide free market ideologues a carte blanche to deliver Brexit on the back of their mind­less slogan, at enormous cost to economy.

We believe that the future status of EU citizens should have been resolved as an immediate and unilateral step.

In order protect the opportunities available to future generations, we knew from the beginning that a “no-deal” scenario would be catastrophic.

This government, however, seems to flaunt the possibility as if their tiresome chants of “take back control” will suffer the inevitable blow to our economy that failed talks would entail.

This conference season exposed the gulf in purpose between the two parties.

As we enter this vital phase of talks with the EU, the British people deserve better than the infighting from a party whose domestic offer seems to be half-baked imitations of Labour policy and whose approach to negotiations is turning us into an international laughing stock.

TULIP SIDDIQ MP
Labour, Hampstead & Kilburn