Sir Keir Starmer faces cracks in his top team over decision to back Brexit deal

Sir Keir Starmer faces cracks in his top team over the upcoming vote on Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, after his shadow chancellor refused to deny she had pushed for the party to abstain.

Sir Keir has told his MPs they will be whipped to vote for the Government’s deal, arguing that while the agreement is “thin” he has decided “Labour will accept it, and vote for it”.

The party leader, who campaigned to remain within the EU, argued "it is not credible for Labour to be on the sidelines".

With Opposition support, the deal will almost certainly pass in Parliament, even if Tory Brexiteers rebel.

But Labour’s decision is understood to be controversial within the Shadow Cabinet, including with the Shadow Chancellor, Anneliese Dodds.

Asked about reports she had clashed with Sir Keir and pushed for Labour to abstain in this week’s vote, Ms Dodds acknowledged “we have been talking about what has been developing in relation to Brexit,” adding: “I think quite frankly our constituents would be very disappointed and concerned if we hadn’t”.

But she dismissed suggestions she and the Labour leader had argued over the decision.

“I haven’t had any disagreements around this at all,” she said.

Ms Dodds' comments follow reports that as many as 60 Labour backbenchers plan to rebel in the vote, which is scheduled for December 30.

Ben Bradshaw, the former Culture Secretary under Gordon Brown, has confirmed he plans to abstain.

Kevin Brennan, Neil Coyle, Rupa Huq, Geraint Davies and Clive Efford have all suggested privately they would abstain or vote against it.

While it is unlikely that members of the Shadow Cabinet will defy the party whip, the Telegraph understands that some shadow junior ministers from Remain-supporting constituencies are considering abstaining.

Voting against Sir Keir’s three-line whip would likely lead to the MPs’ resignations from the Labour front bench.

Asked about a possible Labour rebellion, Ms Dodds told BBC Breakfast: "I obviously don't want to see that, I want to see a situation where we have as much certainty for businesses as possible.

"We've heard for example that there may well be some members of the European Research Group on the Conservative side who are saying that they are going to be voting against this implementing legislation - I don't think that's sensible.

"I'm not going to say to you that this is the deal that Labour would have secured because it really isn't - this is a thin deal - but we don't want to create more problems for businesses right now by preventing the implementation of what the Government has achieved."