Shadow Attorney General, Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, talks post Brexit

Shadow Attorney General, Shami Chakrabarti, says she “doesn’t believe” in the desire from the current conservative’s party to protect the rights of workers when the UK leaves the EU.

Shami Chakrabarti, who is Labour politician and a member of the House of Lords, spoke exclusively with students of the University of South Wales, before attending a Question and Answer with USW Political Science students.

Baroness Chakrabarti spoke about the current Conservative parties’ plans, as well as the current draft Brexit deal.

Baroness Chakrabarti believes the current party lacks the desire to protect workers’ rights after leaving the EU. She said: “I don’t believe in the current conservative’s party desire to protect those rights.

“It’s not the fault of the UK people, it’s the result of some hard-right people in the conservative party who want us to go backwards in the rights and protections of ordinary people”.

Shami Chakrabarti said that the lack of protection of workers’ rights is part of what’s wrong with the current draft. “That’s the devil in the detail of the current draft agreement, that seeks to align state aide rules so that it should be hard for us to nationalize the railways, or take other vital services back into public hands, but doesn’t protect the future of progress on workers’ rights, environmental, and consumer protection” she said.

After the passing of the UK’s Brexit deal by the EU member states, the UK now needs the pass in the House of Commons, but that result is currently undecided, with thoughts that it would not pass. Baroness Chakrabarti believes another referendum may be needed, if the deal cannot be sorted out.

She said: “First thing is that parliament should look at Theresa May’s Brexit deal and seek to amend it or vote it down, and if it is voted down then parliament, following a parliamentary democracy, there ought to be a general election, and if that’s not possible, for whatever reason, and if parliament can’t do its’ job of actually agreeing what the way forward is, then there is the possibility of a need for another referendum”.

The current Brexit deal has already been agreed to by the 27 EU member states but needs the approval of the UK parliament. The vote on the deal in the House of Commons was set for the 11th of December, but was postponed indefinitely after Theresa May believed the deal did not have enough votes to pass. She hopes to make some changes before re-introducing it to Parliament by the 27th of January.