Keir Starmer hit by frontbench resignations as MPs defy his order to back Brexit trade bill

‘I can’t vote for this damaging deal’, shadow minister Helen Hayes tells party leader

Keir Starmer has suffered resignations from his frontbench after MPs defied his order to vote for the Brexit trade bill.

Helen Hayes quit as a Cabinet Office spokeswoman, saying: “I can’t vote for this damaging deal and have abstained today.”

Florence Eshalomi resigned as a whip, protesting: “This bill was rushed and a ‘no deal’ is the worst outcome for the country but I cannot support the bill.”

And Tonia Antoniazzi quit as an aide to the work and pensions team, while insisting she remained “wholly committed to electing a Labour government in 2024”.

In total, 36 Labour MPs are believed to have rebelled – almost one in five of the total – but with only one voting against the legislation, Streatham’s Bell Ribeiro-Addy.

Earlier, Jeremy Corbyn – who was ejected from the parliamentary party – said he would also abstain,  and was joined by his left-wing ally Diane Abbott.

The revolt came as the Bill cleared the Commons with a thumping majority of 448, by 521 votes to 73, before heading to the House of Lords.

Ms Abbott told the Commons: “By driving this historic deal through parliament in one day with no time for proper scrutiny, this government is trashing democracy.

“It fails the British people, it fails my constituents and I have to meet my responsibilities as a member of the British parliament and vote against it today.” In the end, she abstained.

And Mr Corbyn, the former leader, tweeted: “I cannot vote for this deal, which this government will use to drive down rights and protections, and step up the sell-off of our vital public services.

“We need instead to break with failed race-to-the-bottom policies and build a Britain that puts people before private profit.”

It creates the enormous irony of Mr Corbyn – a renowned Eurosceptic – rejecting the exit deal, while Sir Keir, an arch Europhile, voted for it.

“Those voting no today, want yes. They want others to save them from their own vote,” he said.

“Voting no, wanting yes. That’s the truth of the situation and that’s why my party has taken a different path.”

Not a single Conservative MP voted against the deal – an extraordinary show of unity, after decades of bitter infighting over Europe – and only Owen Paterson and John Redwood abstained.

Other Labour abstainers included former frontbenchers Ben Bradshaw, Kevin Brennan, Richard Burgeon, Dawn Butler, Neil Coyle, Stella Creasy and Clive Lewis.

The 75 opponents in the Commons, including two tellers, also included the Scottish National Party (44), the Liberal Democrats (11), the Democratic Unionist Party (8) and Plaid Cymru (3).