Ed Miliband accused Boris Johnson of making a mess of Brexit and getting it "undone" during a scathing speech in the House of Commons.
The former Labour leader was beginning the opposition's arguments on the Internal Market Bill today in place of Sir Keir Starmer, who has been forced to self-isolate due to a relative displaying symptoms of Covid-19.
Mr Miliband accused Mr Johnson of “legislative hooliganism” and said he had ignored warnings over how the Northern Ireland Protocol works and the mediation measures in place.
Read more: Parliament live: MPs to vote on Internal Market Bill
He told the Commons: “Let’s just get this straight for a minute, because I think it is important to take a step back, what the Prime Minister is coming to the House to tell us today is that his flagship achievement, the deal he told us was a triumph, the deal he said, as I said, was oven ready, the deal (on) which he fought and won the general election is now contradictory and ambiguous.
“What incompetence. What failure of governance. And how dare he try and blame everyone else.
“Can I say to the Prime Minister, this time he can’t blame (Theresa May), he can’t blame John Major, he can’t blame the judges, he can’t blame the civil servants, he can’t sack the Cabinet secretary again.
“There’s only one person responsible for it, and that is him. This is his deal, it’s his mess, it’s his failure.”
He continued: “For the first time in his life, it is time to take responsibility, it is time to fess up.
“Either he wasn’t straight with the country about the deal in the first place or he didn’t understand it."
He also said the Government wants to create the “Johnson defence”, explaining: “You can break the law in a specific and limited way.”
He listed five "myths" that he claimed the Government had created around the need for the Internal Markets Bill, which would break international law if it was passed and implemented.
He said one of the falsehoods created by Downing Street was the idea that the EU would impose "blockades" on Northern Ireland, controlling food being transported between the country and Great Britain.
Mr Miliband said bill did "absolutely nothing" to deal with any alleged issues of trade between Northern Ireland and mainland Britain, and challenged Mr Johnson to tell MPs where the Bill clarifies this issue.
He said: "If the Prime Minister wants to tell us that there's another part of this bill that I haven't noticed, that will deal with this supposed threat of a blockade, I will happily give way to him."
When the Prime Minister failed to respond, the MP said: "There you have it. He didn't read the protocol, he hasn't read the Bill. He doesn't know his stuff."
Further reading:
- UK Internal Market bill passed by MPs despite it breaking international law
- Parliament RECAP: Internal Market Bill vote as it happened
- Watch: Ed Miliband's scathing takedown of Boris Johnson
- Watch: Douglas Ross insists the SNP 'does not speak for Scotland'
- Sajid Javid and the growing list of Tory rebels refusing to back new Brexit bill
- Explained: What is the Internal Market Bill and how does it break international law?
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