Labour will vote against PM May’s Chequers Brexit plan, says Corbyn

LIVERPOOL, England, (Reuters) - British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said yesterday Labour would vote against a Brexit deal based on Theresa May’s proposals, the strongest warning yet to a prime minister whose plan to leave the European Union is hanging by a thread.

On the final day of his party’s annual conference, Corbyn sought to show he was ready to take up the reins of power, setting out details of what he called “a radical plan to rebuild” Britain, including the promise of a “green jobs revolution”.

Corbyn also made a direct bid for the support of those outside the British capital who voted to exit the EU, often in frustration at feeling left behind by a London-based elite, saying Labour was ready to take over the tortured Brexit talks.

Britain is not due another election until 2022, but Labour is preparing for a possible snap vote. May’s position, already precarious, was further weakened last week when the EU rebuffed her Brexit proposal, known as “Chequers”, which is also unpopular in her Conservative Party.

Corbyn, a veteran eurosceptic, said Labour respected the outcome of a 2016 referendum when Britons voted to leave the EU, in the biggest shift in foreign and trade policy in more than 40 years.

“As it stands, Labour will vote against the Chequers plan or whatever is left of it and oppose leaving the EU with no deal,” Corbyn told a packed hall at the conference in the northern English city of Liverpool.

“And it is inconceivable that we should crash out of Europe with no deal - that would be a national disaster. That is why if parliament votes down a Tory (Conservative) deal or the government fails to reach any deal at all we would press for a general election,” he said to a standing ovation.

Brexit divides Labour just as it does May’s Conservatives and much of the country, but Corbyn has tried to paper over his party’s splits by keeping open the option of holding a second referendum on staying in the EU.