Corbyn hints at backing second vote to quell Remainer rebellion
Jeremy Corbyn was fighting yesterday to reassure his MPs that he could still back a second referendum after some said that they would leave the party rather than help to deliver an EU divorce deal.
Corbyn’s shift on Thursday towards a softer Brexit deal led to a backlash from MPs, including Owen Smith, a former member of the shadow cabinet. He said that he and ‘‘lots of other people’’ were now considering their position .
‘‘At the moment I may be asked by the Labour Party to row in behind a policy decision that they know, and the government knows, is going to make the people I represent poorer and – more fundamentally, actually – is at odds with the internationalist, social democratic values I believe in,’’ said Smith, who stood against Corbyn for the party leadership in 2016.
Chuka Umunna, a pro-EU MP, said that the position was ‘‘totally demoralising’’, adding: ‘‘This is not Opposition, it is the facilitation of a deal which will make this country poorer. I hate to think what all those young voters who flocked to the party for the first time in 2017 will make of this. Vote Labour, get a Tory Brexit. They will feel they have been sold down the river.’’
Chris Leslie, a former shadow chancellor, said that Corbyn’s move had put ‘‘Labour’s conference policy in the bin’’ and Corbyn would have to ‘‘share responsibility’’ when jobs were lost because of Brexit.
Although all three MPs are persistent critics of Corbyn, his move was also attacked by a union ally. Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association, tweeted: ‘‘Labour is now pushing for an ultra-soft, pointless Brexit. Our union wants the British public to have the final say on any deal/no-deal with an option to stay put.’’
Yesterday one of the frontbench Brexit team ran into trouble with Corbyn’s office over his interpretation of the Labour leader’s letter. Matthew Pennycook, MP for Greenwich & Woolwich, tweeted that Labour could still support a second referendum if Theresa May rejected Corbyn’s compromise offer.
‘‘We’ve now set out in detail the changes needed to secure @UKLabour support for a deal. Either May accepts them in full and commits to enshrining them in law before exit day or we must move to support a public vote. No other credible options left to prevent a ‘no deal’ #Brexit.’’
The leader’s office resisted this, saying it was not Corbyn’s view but later adopted a more emollient tone.
Sir Keir Starmer, shadow Brexit secretary, denied that Labour had abandoned its conference policy and Corbyn’s office later messaged MPs with the same claim.
The shift in position was brokered over recent weeks in Labour’s Brexit sub-committee. A senior Labour source acknowledged that it risked implicating the party in delivering a deal that many members and supporters would oppose.
Corbyn, however, is under pressure from some of his closest allies not to be seen to frustrate the 2016 referendum result. The party’s previous Brexit policy, including an undeliverable pledge to guarantee ‘‘the exact same benefits’’ of EU membership had also become embarrassing.
Nick Boles, the Tory who has been leading efforts for a Norwaystyle deal, said: ‘‘This takes us a step forward to cross-party compromise.’’ Sir Oliver Letwin, another Tory pushing for a softer Brexit, also welcomed Corbyn’s change in stance. David Lidington, May’s effective deputy, said he was willing to talk to the Opposition but warned that Labour’s new policy was ‘‘wishful thinking’’.
‘‘This is not Opposition, it is the facilitation of a deal which will make this country poorer.’’ Chuka Umunna, a pro-EU Labour MP