Shadow Welsh secretary resigns over Brexit vote

The shadow secretary for Wales, Jo Stevens, has resigned from her post, saying she could not reconcile herself to voting to trigger Article 50 as she still believed leaving the EU would be “a terrible mistake”.In her letter to the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, Stevens said she was “a passionate European” who had voted to Remain, as had a significant majority of her city and constituency of Cardiff.The MP said she accepted the referendum result and recognised that she could not block the passage of the EU withdrawal bill and that exiting the EU was inevitable. “But I believe that leaving is a terrible mistake and I cannot reconcile my overwhelming view that to endorse the step that will make exit inevitable is wrong,” she wrote.“I expect this to be the most important vote I will ever cast as an MP and for me it is a clear issue of principle and conscience. When I vote I will be representing my constituents, a great many of whom, including a great many Labour party members and voters, have strongly urged me to vote in this way. That is why, in shadow cabinet, I argued against the imposition of a three-line whip.” Stevens is the first shadow cabinet member to resign over the issue, after Corbyn said he would impose a three-line whip to vote in favour of the government’s EU withdrawal bill.Tulip Siddiq resigned as shadow early years minister on Thursday, saying she intended to vote in line with her strongly pro-Remain constituents in Hampstead and Kilburn.Stevens was elected in 2015, beating the LibDem incumbent Jenny Willott with a majority of 4,981. Though Wales voted overall to leave the EU, Cardiff was pro-Remain, with 60% of people voting to stay in.Stevens previously expressed concern about the impact of leaving the EU on her brief, with 68% of Welsh exports going to the EU.On the left of the party, Stevens was one of 40 MPs who refused to back a no-confidence motion in Corbyn after the EU referendum, but she later endorsed his leadership rival Owen Smith. She was previously shadow justice minister but was promoted to the shadow cabinet and given the Wales portfolio after Corbyn’s reelection in October.Stevens was among those who argued that MPs should not be compelled to vote for the government’s bill, along with the shadow business secretary, Clive Lewis. Lewis has since said he will vote in favour of the bill on second reading, but hinted he could be prepared to withdraw support in the final stages.