Corbyn: I will sort Brexit in months . . . it’s not hard
Jeremy Corbyn has claimed that Brexit can be ‘‘sorted within six months’’ and insisted that his referendum policy ‘‘really isn’t that complicated’’.
Launching his general election campaign in Battersea, south London, with a vow to introduce ‘‘real change’’ to the country, the Labour leader said that his party would reopen negotiations with the EU if it entered government and then pit a soft Brexit deal against Remain in a second referendum.
He again resisted pressure to say how he would campaign in that referendum, even though several of the most senior shadow cabinet members beside him on the podium, including John McDonnell, Emily Thornberry and Diane Abbott, have said that they will back remaining in the EU come what may.
Corbyn, fighting his second general election in four years as leader, said that Labour would take the decision on Brexit ‘‘out of the hands of the politicians and trust the people to have the final say’’.
He told an enthusiastic crowd of activists: ‘‘Labour will get Brexit sorted within six months. We’ll let the people decide whether to leave with a sensible deal or Remain. That really isn’t that complicated.
‘‘We will carry out whatever the people decide so that we can get on with delivering the real change Britain needs after years of Conservative cuts to vital services and tax handouts to the richest.’’
Corbyn’s decision to highlight the rapid timetable on which he intends to resolve the Brexit impasse represents an early attempt to counter Boris Johnson’s attack that a Labour government would be consumed by Brexit whereas he would quickly ratify his deal before moving on to other issues.
As well as Brexit, the issue which drew the loudest support from the audience was the NHS. ‘‘Boris Johnson’s planned trade deal with Trump will mean yet more NHS money taken away from patients and handed to shareholders,’’ he said. ‘‘Despite his denials, the NHS is up for grabs by US corporations in a one-sided Trump sellout.
‘‘We will stop them. Labour won’t let Donald Trump get his hands on our National Health Service. It’s not for sale, to him or anyone.’’
Activists rose to their feet and chanted: ‘‘Not for sale.’’
The Liberal Democrats, whose momentum Corbyn needs to stall, also incurred his ire. Their Brexit policy of revoking article 50 altogether, Corbyn said, meant they ‘‘want to cancel a democratic vote with a parliamentary stitch-up’’.
He described ‘‘children with special educational needs who aren’t getting the support they deserve because of Tory and Lib Dem government cuts’’.
The speech’s overarching theme was to set Labour against a ‘‘corrupt system’’.
He urged voters to back his party to take on ‘‘tax dodgers, bad bosses and polluters’’, and framed the contest as a battle between ‘‘born-torule Conservatives [who] will only look after the privileged few’’ and Labour who would ‘‘put wealth and power in the hands of the many’’.
He singled out the Duke of Westminster, Mike Ashley, the Sports Direct tycoon, and Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corporation, owner of as examples of ‘‘a rigged system’’ protected by the Conservatives.
Carolyn Fairbairn, directorgeneral of the Confederation of British Industry, accused Corbyn of being too negative about business. ‘‘Labour has been silent on the value business brings for too long, focusing solely on the negatives,’’ she said. ‘‘It is wrong to ignore the hundreds of thousands of brilliant British businesses working tirelessly to provide great jobs, boost communities and create the products and services that improve lives.’’
Corbyn said Labour would not be deterred by the fact that the election is being held in the winter. He said: ‘‘Boris Johnson thought he was being smart holding this election in a dark and cold December. He thinks you won’t go out to vote. He thinks you won’t go out to campaign. Well I say this: Labour will be out there in every city, town and village bringing a message of hope and change to every community. Even if the rivers freeze over, we’re going out to bring about real change for the many, not the few.’’