Labour’s childish antics over Brexit are an embarrassment

The Brexit deal is on the table and the bids to support it, scrap it, or make it utterly redundant are now in full swing.

As Theresa May moves forward with her plan to engineer a parliamentary majority for a proposed exit deal, clear political camps have begun to form.

The Tory moderates who have backed May’s deal appreciate the necessity for compromise, and believe that economic stability is worth the less-than-perfect Brexit that’s on offer.

The Brexiteers pushing for May to go have a clear view, too. They genuinely believe that leaving with no deal at all would be better than chaining Britain to the terms that have already been negotiated.

And even the advocates for a second referendum (or so-called “people’s vote”) are consistent. They believe that leaving the EU is a mistake, and that, now the public knows what Brexit will actually look like, they should have the chance to change their minds.

One can agree or disagree with each of these camps, but their respective positions are clear. Not so when it comes to Her Majesty’s most loyal opposition.

Labour has in the past been accused of having more positions on Brexit than the Kama Sutra. But at least the Kama Sutra’s positions are all technically possible. Jeremy Corbyn’s stance on May’s Brexit deal is pure fantasy.

While he has admitted that he hasn’t actually read the details, he and other Labour MPs have been adamant that it does not meet Labour “six tests” for a “jobs-first Brexit”.

None of them, so far, have been able to explain how, with just months to go, they would convince the EU to give them all the benefits of being in the customs union and Single Market while still leaving – although Corbyn did say on Sky that there was “an opportunity” to renegotiate the deal during the two-year transition period, wilfully ignoring that the transition period itself is a feature of the deal.

Other Labour MPs have suggested a second referendum, with scant regard to the fact that their leader has explicitly ruled this out.

To top this paradoxical delusion, both the shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer and shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry have referred to Labour as the “grown-ups”. As the moment, Labour’s approach appears to be to scream “no” to every Tory suggestion and stick their fingers in their ears each time someone points out that their positions are contradictory.

Britain is facing its most defining challenge of this political era, and while the Conservatives aren’t exactly offering a lesson in statecraft, we should at least be grateful that this task doesnt rest in the hands of the Labour party.